Pope Francis Cancels Meeting With Rome Priests Over ‘Slight’ Illness

Pope Francis blows his nose as he leads the Ash Wednesday mass which opens Lent, the forty-day period of abstinence and deprivation for Christians before Holy Week and Easter at the Santa Sabina church in Rome on Feb. 26, 2020. Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images

Pope Francis is sick and won’t attend a planned Mass with Rome clergy on Thursday, Vatican officials confirmed.

The Vatican said the 83-year-old has a “slight indisposition” and will “stay near Santa Marta,” where he lives in the Vatican, a spokesperson told The Associated Press.