The Vatican announced that Pope Francis is suffering from 'acute gonalgia,' the medical term for intense knee pain.
The Pope's doctor has ordered him to rest his knee, meaning that he will not travel to Florence on Sunday to close a summit between Mediterranean bishops and mayors as originally planned.
Nor will he preside at the Ash Wednesday Mass on March 2.
Pope Francis has had this problem for some time. At the end of January, he shared that he was suffering problems in his knee during a general audience.
POPE FRANCIS
'And I would like to tell you that today I won't be able to pass among you all to greet you, because I have a problem with my right leg. I have an inflamed ligament in my knee.'
Since then, he has not always walked to greet people as usual, but has had them approach him instead.
The Vatican also published the complete program for Pope Francis' coming trip to Malta in April, a sign that he is expected to recover by then.
JRB
TR: JM
