Pope Francis has told ambassadors accredited to the Holy See that he wasn’t up to delivering his annual foreign policy speech and asked an aide to deliver it instead. A congested-sounding Francis began the speech, greeting the ambassadors who had gathered in the Hall of Blessings. But just a few lines into the speech, which usually recaps highlights of the past year, the 88-year-old Francis said he was still battling a cold and handed the speech over to an aide. Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, often suffers bouts of bronchitis in winter. He has just emerged from a grueling Christmas period in which he inaugurated the Vatican’s Holy Year celebrations.
