Pope Francis will remain in the hospital in Rome after being admitted late last week after a series of tests that pointed to a “complex clinical picture,” Vatican said on Monday, raising fresh concern about the 88-year health of Pontiff.
Diagnostic tests conducted after Francis was taken to Policlinico A. Gemelli on Friday, he presented “the infection with a polymycrobial respiratory tract,” and his doctors have changed treatment accordingly, Vatican said in a statement.
A complex clinical picture “would require an appropriate medical stay,” it was said, without elaboration. In an evening update, the Vatican said Francis was in a “stable” condition, without fever.
The infection of the polyMicrobial respiratory tract means that the Pope has a mixture of microbes, such as virus or bacteria, infected by the lungs or other part of his respiratory tract. This is usually not a good sign, because healthy people rarely get such infections, said Dr. James M. Musser, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Francis is hospitalized in 2023. With a respiratory infectionBut he managed to leave the hospital after three days.
Francis had a hectic schedule from New Year’s Eve, when he was chaired by the opening of the 2025 anniversary, held every 25 years in the Roman Catholic Church.
AND The Vatican announced At the beginning of February, Francis had bronchitis, but continued his activities, holding a smaller audience at Cas Santa Marta, at the Vatican Pansion where he lives, but the chairman of larger gatherings and masses with thousands of pilgrims, including the Mass in St. Peter Square earlier this month.
In recent weeks, Francis has admitted to having respiratory difficulties. On several occasions, he asked assistants to read their homily and speak for him.
After entering the hospital, the doctors prescribed a complete vacation. Subsequent medical updates said she was in a “stable” condition.
The Pope was removed by a part of the lungs as a young man. In his autobiography, “hope”, Posted last monthFrancis wrote that in 1957, doctors cut off the upper lung lobe after finding three large cysts. He spent his days in the oxygen tent, he wrote. “The pain was terrible.”
His medical challenges have become more numerous with age. He has problems with the knees and sciatica that have caused strong limp and in recent years, they have often demanded that he use a wheelchair, a walker or a reed.
The fact that the Pope uses a wheelchair can make it more sensitive to such respiratory infections, said Dr. Musser, because people using a wheelchair often do not take such deep breath needed for adequately to clean the lungs.
2001., Francis had a colon surgery. After the fight with bronchitis in 2023, he was re -hospitalized several months later subjected to abdominal surgery for Hernia. Last year was subjected to diagnostic tests on Hospital After light flu.
On Monday morning, Francis received communion, ate breakfast and read some newspapers after a holiday night, said Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, adding that the Pope was “in a good mood”. In an evening update, the Vatican said that Francis also turned his attention to an indefinite “work activity” and made some reading.
The Vatican said that Francis “touched many messages of affection and closeness that he continues to receive in those hours,” especially from people who were also hospitalized and sent him drawings and received good messages. “He prays for them and asks to pray for him,” the Vatican said.
Several visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica have shared concerns on Monday because of the health of Pontiph.
Sabrina Geroni, designer of clothing from Florence, was among the hundreds of pilgrims passing the holy doors at St. Peter’s Basilica, the central jubilee ritual, and prayed for Francis’s quick recovery. “He is our earthly shepherd and I feel very grateful to him,” she said.
Gina Kolata contribute to reporting.
