On the advice of his doctors, Pope Francis has canceled his planned trip to Dubai for the United Nations climate summit, COP28, which opens Thursday, the Vatican announced Tuesday.
The 86-year-old pope, who has made environmental protection a cornerstone of his ten-year pontificate, planned to become the first pontiff to attend the UN summit since the process began in 1995.
“Although the general state of health of the Holy Father has improved, regarding his flu symptoms and his inflammation of the respiratory tract, the doctors asked the Pope not to make the trip planned in the coming days to Dubai,” a announced Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni in a press release.
“Pope Francis accepted with great regret the doctors’ request and the trip is therefore canceled,” added the spokesperson.
He assured that the pope still wished to participate in the discussions in Dubai and that the modalities of this participation would soon be defined.
Earlier in the day, during a Vatican briefing on the trip, Matteo Bruni told reporters that the pope would participate.
Francis, who has suffered a series of health problems in recent years, had canceled his planned activities Saturday due to what the Vatican described as “mild flu-like symptoms.”
A CT scan ruled out “the risks of pulmonary complications”.
The pope also delivered the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday from his residence and not in St. Peter’s Square.
In Dubai, Francis was expected to castigate countries for their lack of action on climate change and seek to persuade them to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
It was also expected to play a role in rebuilding trust between nations vulnerable to climate change and wealthy, consumerist polluters.
Leading 1.3 billion Catholics, more than half of whom live in developing countries, the Pope has long emphasized the link between climate change and poverty, with the world’s poorest paying the highest price. high rate of global warming.