Pope Francis will stay in a hospital in Rome after being admitted at the end of last week following a series of tests indicating a “complex clinical image”, the Vatican said on Monday, which raised new concerns Regarding the health of the 88 -year -old pontiff.
Diagnostic tests carried out after Francis was carried out at Policlinico A. Gemelli presented on Friday “an infection of the polymicrobial respiratory tract”, and his doctors had changed treatment accordingly, the Vatican said in a press release.
The complex clinical image “would require an appropriate medical stay,” he said, without developing. In an evening update, the Vatican said that Francis was in a “stable” state, without a fever.
An infection of polymicrobial respiratory tract means that the Pope has a mixture of microbes, such as viruses or bacteria, infecting his lungs or another part of his respiratory tract. This is generally not a good sign because healthy people rarely get such infections, said Dr. James Musser, director of the Center for Infectious Diseases at the Houston Methodist Hospital.
Francis was hospitalized in 2023 with a respiratory infection, but was able to leave the hospital after three days.
Francis has a busy schedule from New Year’s Eve, when he presided over the opening of the 2025 jubilee, which was held every 25 years in the Roman Catholic church.
THE The Vatican announced In early February, Francis had bronchitis, but he continued his activities, holding an audience smaller at Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guest house where he lives, but presiding larger rallies and masses with thousands of pilgrims , including an outdoor mass in Saint-Pierre’s Square earlier this month.
In recent weeks, Francis had admitted to having had breathing difficulties. On several occasions, he asked assistants to read his homilies and speeches for him.
After entering the hospital, the doctors prescribed a complete rest. Subsequent medical updates said it was in “stable” state.
The pope was part of a lung removed as a young man. In his autobiography, “Hope”, published last month, Francis wrote that in 1957, the doctors cut the upper lobe of his right lung after finding three large cysts. He spent days in an oxygen tent, he wrote. “The pain was terrible.”
His medical challenges have become more numerous with age. He has knee problems and sciatica that have caused severe lameness and, in recent years, have often forced him to use a wheelchair, walker or cane.
The fact that the Pope uses a wheelchair can make him more sensitive to such respiratory infections, said Dr. Musser, because people who use wheelchairs often do not take the kind of deep breath necessary to adequately erase their lungs .
In 2021, Francis underwent colon surgery. After his fight with bronchitis in 2023, he was hospitalized again a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery for hernia. Last year, he suffered diagnostic tests at Gemelli hospital after a slight flu.
Monday morning, Francis received communion, had breakfast and read certain newspapers after a relaxing night, said Matteo Bruni, spokesperson for the Vatican, adding that the pontiff was “in a good mood”. In an evening update, the Vatican said that Francis had also turned his attention to “work activities” not specified and read.
The Vatican said that Francis had been “touched by the many affection and proximity messages he continues to receive at these hours”, in particular people who were also hospitalized and sent him drawings and received good messages . “He prays for them and asks that they pray for him,” said the Vatican.
Several visitors to the Saint-Pierre Basilica shared their concerns on Pontiff’s health on Monday.
Sabrina Geroni, a designer of Florence clothing, was one of the hundreds of pilgrims who crossed the holy door of the Saint-Pierre basilica, a ritual of the central jubilee, and she prayed for the rapid recovery of Francis. “He is our terrestrial shepherd and I am very grateful to him,” she said.
Gina Kolata Contributed reports.
