• A coughing Pope Francis told pilgrims gathered for the traditional Sunday blessing that he is canceling his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside because of a cold. It is the first time in his seven-year papacy that he has missed the spiritual exercises that he initiated early in his pontificate to mark the start of each Lenten season. Such retreats are typical of Jesuits, an order to which he belongs. The 83-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung to a respiratory illness as a young man, canceled several official engagements last week as he battled an apparent cold. His weekly appearance Sunday to pilgrims from a window high above St. Peter's Square was the first time he has been seen publicly since Ash Wednesday, when he was seen coughing and blowing his nose during Mass. Francis paused twice to cough Sunday while addressing the faithful. At the end, he asked for prayers for the spiritual retreat, adding "unfortunately a cold prevents me from participating this year. I will be following the meditation from here." Last week, the pope canceled two planned official audiences -- formal affairs in the Apostolic Palace where Francis would have delivered a speech and greeted a great number of people at the end. Those were to include an audience with an international bioethics organization and with members of the scandal-marred Legion of Christ religious order. Francis will continue to work from his residence at the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel and was receiving people in private, the Vatican press office said.
• Hilary Duff is asking Disney to find a TV home that's more appropriate to the grown-up Lizzie McGuire. In an Instagram post, the actress who's reprising the title character for Disney Plus, said the streaming service isn't the best fit, suggesting Hulu instead. The original series, about a girl whose thoughts are expressed by her animated doppelganger, aired from 2001 to 2004 on the Disney Channel. "Was incredibly excited to launch 'Lizzie' on D+ and my passion remains," Duff said in her post Friday. "However, I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans' relationship with Lizzie who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her. I'd be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old's journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating." The original series was an authentic portrayal of Lizzie as a preteen and teenager, Duff said, and her next chapters should be "as real and relatable." Production on the reboot was suspended in January after the exit of showrunner and original series creator Terri Minsky, trade publication Variety has reported.
A Section on 03/02/2020