Pope cancels trip to climate summit in Dubai on doctors’ orders

Pope Francis on Tuesday canceled his upcoming trip to the United Nations climate conference in Dubai on doctors’ orders as he recovers from the flu and lung inflammation, according to the Vatican.

In an update on Tuesday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis’s condition was improving, but the doctors asked the pontiff to not make the trip planned later in the week.

“Pope Francis accepted the doctors’ request with great regret and the trip is therefore canceled,” Bruni said, per The Associated Press.

Francis announced on Sunday that he is receiving treatment for lung inflammation and a mild case of the flu that required him to scale back on some appointments. The pontiff that day skipped his traditional appearance at his studio window over St. Peter’s Square, but maintained at the time he still planned to go to the United Arab Emirates for the conference.

In a televised appearance of his traditional noon blessing on Sunday, Francis coughed and whispered as he received antibiotics intravenously, the AP reported.

Francis, who turns 87 next month, was expected to leave Rome on Friday to deliver an address at the United Nations COP28 climate talks on Saturday. The following day, Francis was slated to inaugurate a faith pavilion on the sidelines of the conference before returning back to Rome.

“Following through with the Pope’s and the Holy See’s wish to be part of the discussions taking place in the coming days, the modalities by which this can happen will be defined as soon as possible,” Bruni added, according to the Vatican’s news service.

The Vatican News reported some scheduled events over the next few days have been cancelled to give the pope time to recover.

Francis’s address to COP28 would have made him the first pontiff to address a U.N. climate conference.

The AP reported Francis had part of one lung removed when he was younger and last April spent three days at a hospital in Rome for bronchitis. In July, 2021, Francis was hospitalized for 10 days where he received intestinal surgery for a bowel narrowing.

COP28 talks will kick off Thursday and last for nearly two weeks as global leaders discuss the world’s standing on limiting emissions and slowing global warming. British King Charles, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry are among those who will be in attendance, while President Biden is reportedly skipping the conference this year for the first time in his presidency.