VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis was well enough Sunday to celebrate his weekly Angelus prayer from the Vatican window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, a day after canceling his engagements due to a mild flu.
A brief announcement Saturday from the Vatican press office said the 87-year-old pontiff was forced to cancel a planned audience with Roman deacons as a precaution because of a “mild flu-like condition.”
On Sunday, Francis, who in recent months had to cancel some of his activities and an international trip due to his poor health, concluded his Angelus prayer with his usual greetings to the waving crowd.
In his speech, Francis recalled “with pain” the second anniversary of the start of what he called “a large-scale war in Ukraine.”
“So many victims, injuries, destruction, anguish, tears in a period that is becoming terribly long and whose end is not yet in sight,” the Pope said.
“It is a war that is not only devastating that region of Europe, but is also unleashing a global wave of fear and hatred,” he added. “I advocate that that little bit of humanity be found to create the conditions for a diplomatic solution in the search for a just and lasting peace.”
The pontiff also prayed for those involved in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and “for so many people devastated by the war, and to concretely help those who suffer.” … Let us think of so much suffering, let us think of the wounded, innocent children.”