VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis met with the bishops of Mozambique Sept. 24, a day after he had canceled his scheduled audiences because of “a mild flu-like condition.”
Vatican Media released photos of the pope’s meeting with the bishops, who were making their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican to report on the status of their dioceses. The pope conducts his “ad limina” meetings with bishops as private question-and-answer sessions, so no texts of his remarks were released.
The meeting in the library of the Apostolic Palace came after the pope took a day off Sept. 23.
The Vatican press office had said the 87-year-old pope would be resting as “a precautionary measure” in view of his scheduled trip Sept. 26-29 to Luxembourg and Belgium.
The pope had returned to the Vatican late Sept. 13 after a 12-day trip to Asia and the Pacific; early the next morning he met members of a pilgrimage in St. Peter’s Basilica and had a full slate of appointments for the next 10 days.
Pope Francis recited the Angelus Sept. 22 with visitors in St. Peter’s Square and showed no obvious signs of feeling unwell.
The Vatican published the texts of the speeches the pope had prepared for his audiences Sept. 23 with members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and with participants in a Vatican-related Christmas song contest.