Pope Francis suffers lung inflammation as health fears grow

Pope Francis on Sunday showed signs of serious ill health as he held a traditional Angelus prayer remotely instead of in St Peter's Square.

The 86-year-old church leader appeared via video link from the chapel of the Vatican guesthouse Santa Marta, his residence. 

"Today I cannot stand at the window because I have this problem of inflammation in my lungs," said the head of the Catholic Church in a hoarse voice.

He also had the prayer read out by a priest but did give the blessing at the end of the prayer himself.

Pope Francis also confirmed his trip to Dubai next weekend for the climate conference (COP28).

Exhausted and out of breath

At several points during the seated performance, the pope appeared exhausted, was audibly short of breath and twice coughed heavily.

He had a band-aid and what looked like a cannula, or thin tube doctors use for intravenous medications, in his right hand.

On Saturday, the Vatican surprisingly announced that Francis had to cancel all appointments due to illness. The reason given was a "mild flu."

It was later announced that Francis had undergone a computerized tomography (CT) scan in a hospital in Rome to rule out lung complications.

He later returned to the Vatican as the results were negative.

The pope has been treated twice in hospital this year, first for pneumonia and later he had open abdominal surgery for a hernia under general anesthetic, spending nine days in hospital.

One part of one of the pope's lungs was removed when Francis was a young man in his native Argentina.