Rome: Pope Francis was hospitalized on Friday for medical tests and treatment for bronchitis, marking the last health problems for the 88 -year -old Catholic church chief.
Francis, who has been breathless in recent days and has delegated to managers to read his speeches, has held his morning meetings as planned before going to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, said the Vatican.
He was hospitalized for “certain necessary diagnostic tests and to continue the treatment of current bronchitis in hospital,” he said.
Two audiences that should be detained by the Pope on Saturday and Monday were canceled later, while a cardinal will run mass on Sunday in Francis.
“The initial tests indicate an infection of the respiratory tract,” said the Vatican in another statement on Friday evening, adding that his condition was “stable, with a slight fever”.
“The pope is calm, he is in a good mood and has read the newspapers,” said Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni, to journalists shortly after.
The Argentinian pontiff, who took the lead in the Catholic church in 2013, will remain in Gemelli in a suite used exclusively by popes that has his own chapel.
A sympathetic left a candle carrying a photo of Pope Francis at the base of the statue of Pope John Paul II at the entrance to the hospital.
Italian media said the pontiff was admitted after failing to recover after weeks of illness and said he could be in hospital for several days.
The pope, who had been part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has on several occasions aid in recent days to read his speeches aloud in his name.
On Wednesday, during his weekly general audience, Francis said that he “could not yet” read his own speeches, adding with a smile: “I hope that next time I can.”
He also organized home meetings last week to help him recover.
Friday morning, the Vatican confirmed that he had an audience with five visitors, including the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.
Health problems flow
The pontiff has been prey to health problems in recent years, although it continues to maintain a very busy schedule.
He withdrew from an event from Good Friday last year after catching what the Vatican called a “light flu”, but continued to direct the Easter services as expected.
A year earlier, in March 2023, Francis was admitted to the hospital for three nights of bronchitis, which was healed with antibiotics.
Another bronchitis brought him to cancel a December 2023 visit to Dubai to participate in the United Nations Conference on COP28 climate change.
The Pope also underwent an hernia operation in June 2023 and 2021 underwent surgery for a type of diverticulitis, inflammation of pockets that develop in the intestine mucosa.
He has been using a wheelchair since 2022 due to persistent knee pain and uses a rod for rare moments standing.
Francis has also fallen a few times in recent months, bruising his forearm in January and sporting a large bruise on his right jaw in December, caused by the overthrow of his bed.
However, despite his health problems, Francis rarely rests.
In September 2024, he completed a tour in Asia-Pacific in four countries, the longest of its papacy in terms of duration and distance.
He never takes a vacation and keeps a busy schedule, sometimes with a dozen meetings in one morning.
His health problems regularly trigger speculation about his future, especially since his predecessor Benoît XVI left health defaulting in 2013.
Although Francis has left the possibility of resigning if he cannot exercise his duties, he said that for the moment he was nowhere.
In a memory published last year, the pope wrote that he had “had no serious cause to make me think of resigning”.
Resignation is a “distant possibility” which would only be justified in the event of “a serious physical obstacle”, he wrote.
