The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been made to apologise to an already-deleted 'ill-judged' social media post on severely ill Pope Francis. (More Cricket News)
The post that said the Pope 'loves the Ashes' in response to an Ash Wednesday message from the 88-year-old who has been in hospital since February.
Pope Francis, who is hospitalized in Gemelli due to double pneumonia, sent a message via X on Tuesday to mark Ash Wednesday - the beginning of the holy season of Lent for the Catholic.
“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," Pope Francis wrote.
While resharing the post, the ECB handle wrote, “Even @Pontifex loves the Ashes."
Ashes is a name given to cricket Test series played between England and Australia. The post has since been deleted.
“This was an ill-judged post and was swiftly deleted. We apologise for any offence," ECB said in a statement.
Speaking about the Pope, the 88-year-old has already suffered two respiratory attacks earlier this week on Monday.
“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.
On Thursday, the Pope released his first public statement since being hospitalized on February 14.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I accompany you from here. May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you," the pope said in a pre-recorded statement.
The Vatican will provide the next medical update on Pope Francis on Saturday.
