‘Complex’ condition keeps Pope Francis in hospital

The Pope said the Gemelli Hospital’s staff ‘perform invaluable and demanding work – let us support them with our prayers.’

Pope Francis will remain in hospital after tests showed “a complex clinical picture”, the Vatican said on Monday morning.

A statement from the Holy See Press Office, three days after the Pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on 14 February, said he required “appropriate hospitalisation” and cancelled Wednesday’s general audience.

“The results of the investigations carried out over the past few days and today have shown a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract, which has led to a further change in therapy,” it said.

On Monday evening, a further Vatican report said the Pope was “stable” and that he “remains without a fever and is proceeding with the prescribed treatment”.

It continued: “Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness that he has been receiving in recent hours; he especially wants to extend his thanks to those who are hospitalised at this time, for the affection and love they have expressed through drawings and messages of good wishes; he prays for them and asks that they pray for him.”

Inmates at Milan’s San Vittore prison were among those who wrote to the Pope. He had been due to meet a group of them involved with the Amici della Nave Association – which runs a rehabilitation programme based around music – during a visit to Rome’s historic Cinecittà studios on 17 February.

“It was difficult for them to accept because it also represented an opportunity to get out into the fresh air, see sunlight, and breathe freedom for a few hours,” said Eliana Onofrio, the association’s president, explaining their reaction to the event’s cancellation due to the Pope’s hospitalisation.

Several decided to write letters to him. “It was a spontaneous gesture through which they wanted to express their affection,” she said.

Pope Francis hospitalised for bronchitis treatment

Tests show improvement for Pope after ‘restful night’ in hospital

A report on Sunday had said the Pope’s condition was “stable” and he continued a “diagnostic and therapeutic process”. He received the Eucharist and followed Mass on television.

The Vatican said the requirement for “complete rest” had prevented him participating in Jubilee events for artists over the weekend.  The press office published the Pope’s message for the Sunday Angelus, which he was unable to deliver in person.

“I would like to be among you,” he said, “but as you know I am here at the Gemelli Polyclinic because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis.” He said the hospital’s staff “perform invaluable and demanding work – let us support them with our prayers”.

Marking the artists’ Jubilee, he called art “a universal language that spreads beauty and unites people” to overcome “every cry of war”. He prayed for peace in Ukraine, Myanmar, Sudan, Africa’s Great Lakes region and the Holy Land.

Pope Francis spoke from the hospital to members of the Holy Family Parish in Gaza on Friday and Saturday evening, as has been his custom since the start of the conflict in the region 15 months ago. 

“Although we had a blackout in the whole area of Gaza City, he insisted and managed to contact us with a video call,” said Fr Gabriel Romanelli IVE, the parish priest.  “We heard his voice.  It is true, he is more tired.  He himself said, ‘I have to take more care of myself.’  But you could hear his voice clearly, he listened to us well.”

Fr Romanelli told Vatican News that Francis had not called the parish on Sunday but sent him a written message, thanking the parishioners for their prayers.

Pope cancels Monday meetings with persistent ‘flu’ symptoms

View from Rome – Austen Ivereigh

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