Pope Francis has cancelled his scheduled audiences because of mild flu, according to the Vatican.

The 86-year-old pontiff holds regular meetings with officials on Saturdays, including a weekly one with the head of the department that oversees the appointment of bishops.

He was also due to hold a meeting with the president of Guinea Bissau.

The Vatican said in a statement: “The Holy Father’s audiences scheduled for this morning are cancelled due to a mild flu.”

The Pope’s next public appearance is scheduled for Sunday, when he is expected to address crowds in his weekly message in St Peter’s Square.

He is also due to attend the upcoming COP28 conference on climate change in Dubai where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with world leaders attending the event.

Recently pressed over his health issues in an interview, Francis, who turns 87 next month, quipped in what has become his standard response: “Still alive, you know.”

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Earlier this month, the Pope did not read his prepared remarks at an audience with European rabbis as he was suffering from a cold, but later appeared to be in good health during a meeting with 7,000 children from over 80 countries.

In June, he spent nine days in hospital after undergoing surgery for a hernia.

It was his second major abdominal operation in two years.

Originally called Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was archbishop of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires from 1998 until he was elected pope in 2013.

Since he assumed the papacy, he has been forced to cancel some events, sometimes at the last minute, because of illness.

He spent three days in hospital with a respiratory infection in March and in May had to skip audiences because of a fever.

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He was first hospitalised in 2021 for an operation to remove part of his colon.

Francis is also missing part of one lung, which was removed when he was a young man in Argentina, and often uses a cane to walk due to knee pain.

Last year he hinted he may resign if his health continued to deteriorate.

That suggestion came after he was pictured using a wheelchair for the first time in public due to mobility issues.

The late Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign for more than 600 years in 2013 instead of ruling for life.

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