Rome (CNN) Pope Francis will not lead the Vatican's New Year's Eve and New Year's Day celebrations due to sciatic pain, the Vatican said in a statement on Thursday. This marks the first time the Pope has missed New Year's Eve or Christmas celebrations, but not the first event he has skipped. On February 27, Pope Francis, who is 84, canceled a scheduled mass for what the Vatican press office described as a "slight imposition," denying rumors that the Pontiff could have contracted Covid-19. He was later seen coughing, sneezing and speaking with a hoarse voice. Pope Francis first revealed he had sciatica (herniation of spinal disk) during an inflight press conference while on a visit to Brazil in 2013.

Source: CNN December 31, 2020 12:19 UTC