After days of canceled audiences, Pope Francis, in a unique manner, still joined the universal Church in praying the Sunday Angelus from Casa Santa Marta.   

In contrast to press releases, the Pope personally shared with us the reason for canceled calendar events, saying, “Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday. Today I can’t look out the window because I have this lung inflammation problem.”   

On Sunday November 26th, Pope Francis surprised the world by giving the Angelus blessing from his residence, the Casa Santa Marta, rather than from the usual window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square.    

Pope Francis was being treated with antibiotics due to lung inflammation. He was in good and stable condition without a fever and his condition was improving. A CT scan at a Roman hospital over the weekend ruled out pneumonia.    

Pope Francis felt well enough to keep his scheduled appointment with the president of Paraguay on Monday morning but postponed some of his other meetings during the week as he recovers from what the Vatican has described as a mild flu. Pope Francis, who turns 87 next month, has experienced several medical setbacks in recent years.     

Although not lacking in determination, Pope Francis has been advised by his doctors not to attend the COP28 climate conference in Dubai from December 1st to the 3rd. It would have been the first time a pontiff attended the UN environmental meeting since they began in 1995. Pope Francis has made protection of the environment one of the hallmarks of his papacy and met last month with COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber. With regret on the part of the Holy Father the journey has been canceled. The Pope and the Holy See look to the ways in which they might still participate in the meetings.   

The climate change summit is taking place at the Expo City Dubai from November 30th to December 12th. The summit is held in a different country every year and is an opportunity for world leaders to meet and discuss policies that seek common goals for climate change mitigation.    

It was meant to be Pope Francis’ second time traveling to the United Arab Emirates. In February 2019, he visited the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, to promote interreligious dialogue and support the small Christian minority. During the 2019 trip, he signed the “Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together” with the grand imam of al-Azhar in Cairo, Ahmed el-Tayeb.  

Pope Francis was the first pope to ever visit the Arabian Peninsula and the first to celebrate Mass for the Gulf nation’s very small Catholic community. 

This article was edited by Jacob Stein.