For a strong cold, Pope Francis gives the reading of the general audience catechesis

Pope Francis excused himself this morning with the hundreds of faithful who gathered in the classroom Paul VI to listen to his catechesis for not being able to read the text he had prepared when he suffered a “strong cold.”

“With this strong cold it is difficult to speak. I have asked my brother to read catechesis and read it better than me, ”said the 88 -year -old pontiff with a hoarse voice and some cough.

In this way, the reflections he prepared for this Wednesday, February 5 were read by Fr. Pierluigi Giroli, an official of the Secretary of State.

In them he called Catholics not to fear “the judgments of others” and to put himself on his way as the Virgin Mary did when he went to visit his cousin Isabel “to share his faith in the God of the impossible and hope in compliance of his promises ”.

“This young daughter of Israel does not choose to protect the world, she does not fear the dangers and judgments of others, but goes out to meet others,” said Father Giroli in the text prepared by the Pontiff for the General Hearing.

The Holy Father reflected in his catechesis about the mystery of the visitation that tells the biblical episode in which, after the announcement of her pregnancy, Maria put on her way to “feeling the impulse of love.”

“When a person feels loved, he experiences a force that puts love in motion,” says Pope Francis in his catechesis.

Thus, he said, given the recognition of the messianic identity of his son and his mission as a mother, Mary “does not speak of herself but of God and raises a praise full of faith, hope and joy.”

“This praise to the Savior God, who springs from the heart of his humble servant, is a solemn memorial that synthesizes and fulfills the prayer of Israel,” he said.

In any case, he made it clear that God leaned over the little Mary to do “great things” in her and turn her “into the mother of the Lord.”

“The Lord, faithful God forever, has shed an uninterrupted torrent of merciful love from generation to generation, about the people faithful to the alliance, and now manifests the fullness of salvation in his son, sent to save the town of his sins ”Said Fr. Giroli reading the catechesis prepared by Pope Francis.

He also pointed out that Easter is the “hermeneutic category” from which “all subsequent release, until the Messiah in the fullness of the times” is understood.

On December 17, Francisco turned 88 and became the third longest pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church. They have only surpassed him in age, Leo XIII, who lived up to 93, and Agatón, a Pope of the VII century who reached 102 years.

His health problems have played bad passes throughout the last year. In January, he suffered serious respiratory problems that forced him to delegate some of his tasks, such as reading the catechesis of Wednesday or the homilies of the liturgical events of Holy Week. Specifically, he could not pronounce the homily of Palm Sunday and, for the first time, he was not present at the Colosseum of Rome to preside over the Crucis via.

Two falls in less than two months

In addition, at the beginning of December fell, hitting his chin with the bedside table, which caused a hematoma on the right side of the face that was visible in the session of December 7 when he created 21 new cardinals.

Shortly after, January 16 He suffered another fall In the Santa Marta house, his residence in the Vatican, which caused him a contusion on the forearm.

However, if we compare it with 2023, when it had to be admitted to the hospital twice – one by a hernia operation and another by a respiratory infection – 2024 has been a less complicated year from the point of view of the problems of health.