Pope cancels more official appointments over cold

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis postponed his official appointments Friday and was working from home, the Vatican said, a day after cancelling a scheduled appearance at mass because of “a mild ailment”. Francis, 83, had appeared earlier in the week to be suffering from a cold. He was seen blowing his nose and coughing during the Ash Wednesday service, and his voice sounded hoarse. He celebrated morning mass as usual and greeted participants at the end, but cleared his diary of everything apart from meetings at the Saint Martha’s guest house at the Vatican he lives, chief press officer Matteo Bruni said in a statement. Bruni had said Thursday that Francis was suffering from “a mild ailment”.