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Vatican confirms plans for papal trip despite Francis’ illness

The Pope has cancelled all his audiences after reporting a ‘slight flu-like state’.

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Francis waves to the faithful

The Vatican has confirmed that plans remain in place for Pope Francis to go to Belgium and Luxembourg later this week, despite having cancelled all his audiences Monday because of a “slight flu-like state”.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the cancellation only concerned Monday’s audiences.

He spoke to reporters before the official start of his Vatican briefing to illustrate details of the trip.

Earlier in the morning, the Vatican announced that 87-year-old Francis had cancelled his audiences for the day as a precaution. He returned on September 13 from Asia, where he visited four countries.

He is due to travel to Luxembourg on Thursday and then spend the rest of the weekend in Belgium.

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