Pope Francis has met film director Martin Scorsese as the pontiff resumed holding audiences after a bout of fever forced him to cancel engagements this week.
A Vatican schedule of his appointments for Saturday showed the 86-year-old pontiff had received one Vatican-based archbishop and four groups.
Among those he greeted was Scorsese, whose films include Taxi Driver, Goodfellas and The Last Temptation of Christ, during a conference promoted by the publication La Civilta Cattolica and Georgetown University.
Concerns for the health of Francis had been raised after he missed meetings on Friday.
The Vatican said he had felt tired and unwell the previous day after insisting on individually meeting a large number of people from his school foundation.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, a Vatican spokesman, said: “He wanted to greet all of them and probably at a certain point lost his resistance.”
It was back in March when Francis last suffered a serious fever. He was taken to hospital at the time and found to have acute bronchitis.
After receiving intravenous antibiotics he was released three days later and returned to his duties, which included a three-day trip to Hungary at the end of April.
He is due to preside over Pentecost Mass on Sunday in St Peter’s Basilica, and hold an official audience with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday. (Sky)