Pope trip to COP28 will go ahead despite health issues, Vatican says

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, who is recovering from a lung inflammation, will attend the COP28 climate meeting in Dubai as planned, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Matteo Bruni, briefing reporters on the three-day visit which begins on Friday, said Francis will deliver one of the keynote speeches on Saturday and will have bilateral meetings the same day with about 30 people, including about 20 heads of state.

“The pope is doing well,” Bruni said, adding that the Vatican will decide before the trip whether to take any extra precautions for the 86-year-old pope’s health.

“For now everything is normal for papal trips, a doctor and a nurse will accompany him as usual,” he said.

Francis, as a young man in his native Argentina, had part of a lung removed.

The Vatican announced on Monday that the pope would limit his activities this week in order to conserve his strength.

A CT scan done at a Rome hospital on Saturday excluded pneumonia but detected inflammation in the pope’s lungs that caused breathing difficulties. He was receiving antibiotics intravenously, the Vatican said on Monday.

The pope met with Spanish bishops visiting the Vatican on Tuesday and plans to go ahead with his weekly general audience in an indoor auditorium on Wednesday, Bruni said.

Also on Tuesday, the Vatican released a schedule of papal activities for the Christmas season.

Francis had surgery on an abdominal hernia in June, spending nine days in hospital. He appears to have recovered fully from that operation. — Reuters