During the press briefing held at 1 p.m. May 2 at the Holy See Press Office, Vatican spokesman flatly denied that Cardinal Pietro Parolin had a health scare episode, which was originally reported by the Italian media.

As reported by Zeale, Italian media such as Virgilio Notizie, Il Giornale, and AGI News Agency claimed that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former secretary of state of the Holy See, had a health incident related to high blood pressure that required the involvement of health workers.

The issue of Cardinal Parolin’s health was not raised by Matteo Bruni during the briefing. But during the Q&A part, Loup Besmond de Senneville, correspondent for the French Catholic daily La Croix asked if the story was true. "No, it's not true," the director of the Vatican press office responded laconically. After a follow-up question regarding the involvement of medical personnel, Bruni said, “I have already responded to the question.”  

Later, at about 4 p.m., the Vatican Press Office issued an official statement:

“During the meeting with journalists, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, refuted the hypothesis of Cardinal Pietro Parolin falling ill, specifying that no such incident had occurred. He also denied the involvement of medical or nursing staff.”

Cardinal Parolin has been persistently voiced by the Italian media as the strongest papabile — a candidate likely to become pope.