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Agence France-Presse

Pope Francis did some work during his fourth day in hospital Monday, but the 88-year-old faces a “complex clinical picture” that would require a longer than expected stay, the Vatican has said.
The head of the Catholic Church was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday with bronchitis, the latest of a series of health issues in recent years.
In a statement earlier Monday, the Vatican said tests had confirmed “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment”.
“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation,” it said.

In an early evening update, it said his clinical condition was unchanged, he continued to be fever-free and was continuing the unspecified treatment.
“This morning he received the Eucharist and subsequently dedicated himself to some work and reading texts,” the update said.
“Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness he continues to receive,” it added.
After initially cancelling events through Monday, the Vatican said the pope’s weekly Wednesday audience would not go ahead either.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni had earlier told reporters that the pope was in “good humour”, had rested well overnight, had eaten breakfast and read the newspapers.
A source in the pope’s entourage had also insisted there was no alarm within the Vatican.

Francis was admitted after a “very busy” two weeks, during which “he was weakened”, the source said, but added: “There is no alarmism”.
A Vatican source said the pope was receiving oxygen.
Yet the news of the more complex situation raises fresh concerns about the Argentine pontiff, who has suffered increasing health issues in recent years.
In the days before his admission, 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”.
But he had continued taking meetings, including one with the prime minister of Slovakia on Friday morning, shortly before he headed to hospital.

Francis had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man and has been particularly susceptible to respiratory infections.
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.
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.
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.
And he has a packed schedule, from daily private audiences to the weekly Angelus prayer on a Sunday, and the Wednesday public audience.
He followed Sunday’s mass this week on television from hospital and sent a written address for the Angelus.
“I would have liked to be among you but, as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Hospital because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis,” Francis wrote.
The Jesuit has left open the option of resigning, like his predecessor Benedict XVI, if he became unable to carry out his duties.
But in a memoir published last year, the pope wrote that he did “not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning”.
Resignation is a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”, he wrote.


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Pope Francis on January 25. The pontiff was admitted to hospital in Rome on February 14. Photo: AFP

Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis was admitted. Photo: Reuters

Pope Francis at the Vatican on February 12. Photo: Reuters

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican on February 14. Photo: Vatican Media via Reuters

Pope Francis presiding over a mass on February 9. Photo: AP

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Pope Francis arrives for the weekly general audience in the Vatican on February 12, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Pope Francis is hospitalised for surgery on his abdomen, in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Photo: Reuters

A candle with a picture of Pope Francis is set at the bottom of a statue of Pope John Paul II at the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalised. Photo: AFP

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Pope Francis during a solemn mass where he made 21 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican, on December 7. Photo: AP

Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima, Peru, during courtesy calls in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, after being elevated cardinal at the Consistory led by Pope John Paul II, in February, 2001. Photo: AP

Vatican investigators Archbishop Charles Scicluna (left), from Malta, and Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, from Spain. Photo: AP

José Enrique Escardó, a victim of Peru’s Sodalitium Christianae Vitae movement, in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, in Rome on Saturday. Photo: AP

Vatican history made as Pope Francis appoints Sister Simona Brambilla as first woman prefect

Pope Francis, for the first time, nameD a woman as prefect of a Vatican dicastery -- Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla. Photo: Catholic News Service

Pope Francis celebrates the Holy mass of the Epiphany in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on January 6. Photo: AFP

Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla is the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. Photo: Catholic News Service

Pope opens Holy Door for Catholic Jubilee at Rome prison: ‘do not lose hope’

Pope Francis opens a Holy Door, one of only five that will be open during the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, at Rebibbia prison in Rome. Photo: via Reuters

Pope Francis opens a Holy Door at Rome’s Rebibbia prison. Francis has shown special attention for the incarcerated over his 11-year papacy, often visiting prisons in Rome and on his foreign trips. Photo: via Reuters

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The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week, but the Vatican said he was in ‘good humour’


The 88-year-old pontiff has been suffering from a respiratory infection for more than a week, but the Vatican said he was in ‘good humour’.
