The England and Wales Cricket Board has apologised for a social media post joking that the Pope “loves the Ashes” following an Ash Wednesday message from the critically ill 88-year-old.
The ECB told Telegraph Sport the apparent attempt at humour by the England cricket team’s social media staff had been “ill-judged” and that the post in question had been “swiftly deleted”.
Pope Francis, who has been battling double pneumonia in the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for more than a fortnight, posted a message to his @Pontifex account on Tuesday evening to mark the start of the holy season of Lent.
He wrote: “The #Ashes remind us of who we are, which does us good. It puts us in our place, smooths out the rough edges of our narcissism, brings us back to reality, and makes us more humble and open to one another. None of us is God; we are all on a journey. #Lent.”
The message was re-posted by the @englandcricket account on Wednesday along with the words: “Even @Pontifex loves the Ashes.”
An ECB spokesman said: “This was an ill-judged post and was swiftly deleted. We apologise for any offence.”
The gaffe followed a recent spate of sanctions that have been issued to cricketers over offensive social-media posts, including ones dating back many years.
Fears are mounting for the health of Pope Francis after he suffered two respiratory attacks on Monday, forcing doctors to intervene to extract a large build-up of mucus from his lungs.
“Today, the Holy Father experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” the Vatican said in a statement released that evening.
The Pope, who has been in hospital since February 14, was put back on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, the Vatican said.
Despite the acute breathing difficulties, the Pope remained alert and co-operated fully with doctors, the Holy See said.
The latest respiratory crisis appeared to be another significant setback in the Pope’s attempts to recover from bronchitis and pneumonia in both lungs.
He has not been seen in public since being admitted to hospital more than two weeks ago. Nor has the Vatican released any photographs or video of him.
Although he has been taken to hospital in the past, this is the longest absence from public life during his 12-year-long papacy and there is speculation that he might resign or that the end of his life is approaching.
