Pope Francis resumed his schedule of official meetings at the Apostolic Palace after almost a week because of a slight flu-like illness. That same morning, he had a total of four meetings.
The last was with a group of 14 bishops from the Italian region of Emilia Romagna. He first greeted them the day before during his General Audience.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops' conference and bishop of Bologna, was among them. Pope Francis had assigned him to a special diplomatic mission in Ukraine.
For historic reasons, Italy is one of the countries with the highest number of dioceses per inhabitant: more than 200. This is why the country's bishops make their ad limina visits in smaller groups.
KG/JRB
