Today, a surprise announcement was made live that startled the guests in one of the rooms of the apostolic palace. Francis had just arrived in a wheelchair, as always, being helped by his trusted assistant to settle on the bench. "I have a long speech to read, but I'm a bit breathless; you see, this cold that won't go away! I take the liberty of handing the text over to you so that you can read it." Since before Christmas, when he was hit by a lung infection, despite treatments, antibiotics and aerosols, he struggles to fully recover. Even during the long interview that Pope Francis recorded for Fabio Fazio, a heavy, laborious breath was heard, almost a distant whistle. The papal entourage reassures that it is indeed a flu tail, nothing worrying. The plans for the future remain intact and are enriched every day with new commitments, such as the trip to Argentina and Polynesia.
How is Pope Francis doing? The Pope has a cough again and cannot read a speech: health monitored
The guests who were in the Vatican this morning were part of a large delegation from various Catholic universities. In recent days, Francis, addressing the issue of the too high number of pontifical universities, proposed a merger to rationalize resources, contain costs and offer greater security to students (who in many universities are declining). His exit, however, does not seem to have been much appreciated by many religious orders to which dozens of universities belong.
Francis this morning thanked everyone for coming to the Vatican and for the "good that universities do, our Catholic universities: to sow science, the Word of God and true humanism. Thank you so much. And don't get tired of moving forward: always forward, with the beautiful mission of Catholic universities. It is not confessionalism that gives them identity: it is one aspect, but not the only one; it is perhaps that clear humanism, that humanism that makes us understand that man has values and that they must be respected: this is perhaps the most beautiful and greatest thing about your universities. Thank you so much".
This year marks the centenary of the International Federation of Catholic Universities (F.I.U.C.). It was Pius XI who blessed the first association composed of eighteen universities in 1924. "From these "roots" two aspects emerge that I would like to highlight - said Francis - the first is the exhortation to work in a network. Today there are almost two thousand Catholic Universities in the world. Imagine the potential that could be developed by more effective and more operational collaboration, strengthening the Catholic university system. In a time of great fragmentation, we must have the audacity to go against the current, globalizing hope, unity and concord, instead of indifference, polarizations and conflicts".
The Pope then quoted Hannah Arendt and Franz Kafka to ask universities not to close "behind walls, in a safe social bubble, avoiding risks or cultural challenges, turning their backs on the complexity of reality may seem the most reliable way (...) Help us rather to culturally translate, in a language open to new generations and new times, the richness of Christian inspiration; to identify the new frontiers of thought, science and technology and to inhabit them with balance and wisdom. Help us to build intergenerational and intercultural alliances in the care of the common home, in a vision of integral ecology, that gives an effective response to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor".
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