Days after the pontiff was forced to slow down because of a flu, his doctors advised him to not travel to Dubai for COP28. Francis has made climate activism a hallmark of his papacy.
The meeting opened with a call for unity, but clerics are navigating a contentious relationship between Pope Francis and conservative American Catholics.
Bishop Joseph Strickland, a hero to the emboldened traditionalist wing of American Catholicism, is in open warfare with the Vatican as it hosts a landmark gathering.