Pope Has the Flu--and Sense of Humor

Pope John Paul II on Sunday said he has the flu, but the wave of influenza that began sweeping Italy in December has not affected his sense of humor.

During his ritual Sunday afternoon visit to a Rome parish in his role as bishop of Rome, the Pope joked about his apparently mild illness when he met a group of converting Catholics and their children, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

“Perhaps you’re surprised by the fact that the Pope, even though he’s a step away from the children, doesn’t hug and kiss them,” John Paul said, according to ANSA.”He was about to do so, but then he thought that he has a virus, and since there’s enough influenza going around, there isn’t reason to add more.”