Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Pope Francis during a weekly general audience at the Vatican on 12 Feb., 2025

Pope's hospital stay extended due to 'complex clinical picture'

The 88-year-old was taken to hospital on Friday.

POPE FRANCIS, HOSPITALISED for bronchitis four days ago, faces a “complex clinical picture”, the Vatican said on Monday, indicating that the 88-year-old’s stay will be longer than initially believed.

After initially cancelling events up until today, the Vatican said the pope’s weekly Wednesday audience would not go ahead either.

“The results of the tests carried out in recent days and today have demonstrated a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment,” the Vatican said in a statement.

“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation.”

A Vatican source told AFP the pope was receiving oxygen.

A separate source in the pope’s entourage had earlier insisted there was “no alarmism” following his Friday admission to Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

a-nun-sits-in-front-of-the-main-entrance-of-the-agostino-gemelli-polyclinic-in-rome-monday-feb-17-2025-where-pope-francis-has-been-hospitalized-to-undergo-some-necessary-diagnostic-tests-and-to A nun prays at the main entrance of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, where Pope Francis has been hospitalised Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters as the new health update was published today that he was in “good humour”.

But the developments will raise fresh concerns about the Argentine pontiff, who has suffered increasing health issues in recent years.

‘Weakened’

Before his admission, after his usual Friday morning meetings, Francis had admitted to difficulty breathing and had asked aides several times to read his speeches aloud on his behalf.

At his weekly general audience last Wednesday, he said he “cannot yet” read his own speeches, adding with a smile: “I hope that next time I can.”

A source within the pope’s entourage said that Francis was admitted after a “very busy” two weeks, during which “he was weakened”.

But the source added: “There is no alarmism.”

Earlier, Bruni said Francis had passed a third “peaceful” night in hospital and this morning had eaten breakfast and read the newspapers.

a-statue-of-pope-john-paul-ii-is-seen-in-front-of-the-agostino-gemelli-polyclinic-in-rome-monday-feb-17-2025-where-pope-francis-has-been-hospitalized-to-undergo-some-necessary-diagnostic-tests-a A statue of Pope John Paul II is seen in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, where Pope Francis has been hospitalised Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The pontiff, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has been plagued by health issues but continues to maintain a very busy schedule.

He pulled out of a Good Friday event last year after catching what the Vatican called a “light flu” but went on to lead Easter services as planned.

A year earlier, in March 2023, Francis was admitted to hospital for three nights with bronchitis, which was cured with antibiotics.

Another bout of bronchitis caused him to cancel a December 2023 visit to Dubai to participate in the United Nations COP28 climate change conference.

The pope also underwent a hernia operation in June 2023 and in 2021 underwent surgery for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine.

He has been using a wheelchair since 2022 because of persistent knee pain and uses a cane during rare moments standing up.

In his recently released autobiography, Hope, Francis revealed that he felt it was “embarrassing at first to have to use a wheelchair”.

“But old age never arrives by itself, and it must be accepted for what it is,” added Francis.

In his memoir, Francis also remarked that “each time a pope takes ill, the winds of a conclave always feel as if they are blowing”.

While Francis said the “reality is that I never thought of resigning”, he acknowledged that resigning is “always a possibility” and that should he resign, he would “remain in Rome, as emeritus bishop”.

Francis has also fallen a couple of times in the past few months, bruising his forearm in January and sporting a large bruise on his right jaw in December, caused by toppling from his bed.

Yet despite his health troubles, Francis remains an active pontiff.

In September 2024, he completed a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, the longest of his papacy by duration and distance.

“I never imagined that I would have made all those journeys to more than sixty countries,” Francis wrote in his memoir.

He also revealed that he “had the feeling” that his papacy would be “brief, no more than three or four years”.

He added: “Our time is pressing: When you want to seize today, it is already yesterday; and if you want to seize tomorrow, it is not yet there.”

-© AFP 2025 and with additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper

Close
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds