Pope will not preside at New Year’s Eve Te Deum, January 1 Mass in St. Peter’s (Vatican Press Office (Italian))

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, announced that Pope Francis is suffering from painful sciatica. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (the Dean of the College of Cardinals) will preside at the Te Deum, and Cardinal Pietro Parolin (the Vatican’s Secretary of State) will preside at the January 1 Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis will deliver an Angelus address on January 1 from the library of the Apostolic Palace.