According to the Vatican, the Roman Catholic pontiff complained of respiratory issues.
The Vatican announced on Wednesday afternoon that Pope Francis will spend several days at Rome’s Gemelli hospital after tests revealed a lung ailment. All of his activities until Friday have been postponed, and it’s still unknown if the pope will be able to attend his festivities throughout Holy Week and Easter.
Pope Francis has recently complained of having some respiratory issues, according to a statement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. Covid-19 was ruled out by the testing, but a “respiratory infection” was discovered instead, according to Bruni, and this will “need a few days of suitable medical care.”
At a scheduled general audience with the Catholic faithful earlier in the day, the 86-year-old pontiff travelled about Saint Peter’s Square in the “popemobile,” giving hugs to believers and kissing infants.
The hospital visit was referred to in Bruni’s initial statement as a previously arranged check-up.
Because to a respiratory illness, the young Argentinian Jesuit had to have a portion of one lung removed. In recent years, he has experienced further health issues. He had a section of his colon removed at Gemelli in 2021. After suffering a knee injury, he subsequently walked with a wheelchair and a cane instead of having surgery because of how terribly he had responded to the general anaesthesia.
The pope’s hospitalisation occurs just before the Catholic Holy Week, which begins this weekend with Palm Sunday celebrations and ends on April 9 with the Easter vigil and mass.
When Benedict XVI, his predecessor and the first pope to declare his retirement since 1415, did so in 2013, Francis was elected pope. He was a year younger than Francis is today, 85, at the time. Benedict served as the “pope emeritus” for the following ten years, until his passing at the end of December 2022.
