Pope's illness spreads doubt at Vatican

Vatican slows as Pope Francis remains absent, uncertainty looms over Church activities

VATICAN CITY:

St Peter's Square is bustling, but behind the Vatican's walls, activities have slowed as the Catholic Church grapples with the uncertainty caused by the absence of Pope Francis.

Tourists take photos in the spring sunshine and streams of pilgrims marking the Catholic "Holy Year" head to the basilica, while journalists from around the world file reports on the 88-year-old's health.

Inside the tiny Vatican city state, however, departments running the pope's notoriously packed daily schedules lie quiet.

"We are at minimum service," Corporal Eliah Cinotti, spokesman for the Swiss Guard, which handles the pope's security, told AFP.

"Extraordinary services -- masses, audiences, receptions of ambassadors and heads of state -- are in free fall," he said, with cardinals stepping in to lead some masses, but most events cancelled.

"It's a period of dormancy" that recalls "the end of Covid, when everything was running at a slow pace", he added, referring to the coronavirus pandemic.

Activity within the Roman Curia -- the government of the Holy See, which oversees the Church's global activities -- has not been as affected.

Though Francis's portrait hangs on the walls of the dicasteries, or ministries, the work is not directly dependent on the Argentine pope. But the severity of his condition, and his doctors' unwillingness to give a medical prognosis, make it difficult to make medium-term plans.

The pontiff has not appeared in public since February 14, when he was admitted to the Gemelli hospital in Rome with breathing difficulties, which developed into double pneumonia.