Pope Francis will not celebrate Mass on the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly on July 25. The pontiff had colon surgery on July 4 and wss released from the hospital July 14. The director of the Vatican press office, Matteo Bruni, told I.MEDIA that the Pontiff still needs to rest.
Bruni assured that the Pope is walking well and that it is normal that he not walk long distances for the moment.
We should not "worry," also declared a Vatican source to I.MEDIA. That he's not celebrating the Mass is "completely normal: He is continuing his convalescence."
Bishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for New Evangelization, will preside over the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.
Announced last January, this first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly was instituted by Pope Francis to recognize and celebrate the “wealth” of the elderly.
It was set on July 25, just before July 26, the liturgical memory of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus.
When announcing it, the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life specified that Pope Francis was to preside over the mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
The 84-year-old pontiff underwent surgery for "symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon" on July 4. While the Vatican planned a convalescence of seven days, the Pope in the end remained 10 days in Rome's Gemelli hospital.
When he was released, he was seen in a wheelchair making a visit to Our Lady in St. Mary Major.
