Pope Francis cancels Rome visit due to illness

The malady is most likely a standard cold or flu rather than the coronavirus

Pope Francis wipes his nose during the Ash Wednesday Mass opening Lent, the forty-day period of abstinence and deprivation for Christians before Holy Week and Easter, inside the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome (AP)

Pope Francis is unwell and has been forced to skip a planned mass, officials said, amid growing concerns of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The Vatican said the 83-year-old pontiff had a “slight indisposition” and would proceed with the rest of his planned work on Thursday. But Francis “preferred to stay near Santa Marta,” the Vatican hotel where he lives.

There was no word from the Vatican about the nature of his illness, but the pope was seen coughing and blowing his nose during the Ash Wednesday Mass.

It comes as coronavirus cases in Italy have spiked to more than 400 people, almost all of them in the north. Rome had three cases, but all three were cured.

Pope Francis had been scheduled to go to the St John Lateran basilica across town to meet with Rome clergy and celebrate a penitential Mass at the start of Lent. Pope Francis is bishop of Rome, but delegates the day-to-day running of the archdiocese to a vicar.

The Argentine pope has generally enjoyed good health. He lost part of one lung as a young man because of a respiratory illness, and suffers from sciatica, which makes walking difficult.

Francis has had a busy schedule lately, including his public general audience on Wednesday and the Ash Wednesday service later in the day in a Roman basilica.

Additional reporting by associated Press