Pope Francis kisses a baby in the course of the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square on the Vatican, March 29, 2023.
Guglielmo Mangiapane | Reuters
Pope Francis was hospitalized with a lung infection Wednesday after experiencing difficulty respiratory in recent days and can remain within the hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said.
The 86-year-old pope doesn’t have Covid-19, spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a press release late Wednesday.
The hospitalization was the primary since Francis spent 10 days on the Gemelli in July 2021 to have 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed.
It immediately raised questions on Francis’ overall health, and his ability to have fun the busy Holy Week events which are because of begin this weekend with Palm Sunday.
Bruni said Francis had been suffering respiratory troubles in recent days and went to the Gemelli hospital for tests.
“The tests showed a respiratory infection (Covid-19 infection excluded) that may require some days of medical therapy,” Bruni’s statement said.
Francis appeared in relatively good form during his recurrently scheduled general audience earlier Wednesday, though he grimaced strongly while getting out and in of the “popemobile.”
Francis had a part of one lung removed when he was a young man because of a respiratory infection, and he often speaks in a whisper. But he got through the worst phases of the Covid-19 pandemic without at the least any public word of ever testing positive.
Francis had been because of have fun Palm Sunday this weekend, kicking off the Vatican’s Holy Week observances: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and at last Easter Sunday on April 9. He has canceled all audiences through Friday, however it wasn’t clear whether he could keep the Holy Week plans.
Francis has used a wheelchair for over a yr because of strained ligaments in his right knee and a small knee fracture. He has said the injury was healing and been walking more with a cane of late.
Francis also has said he resisted having surgery for the knee problems because he didn’t respond well to general anesthesia in the course of the 2021 intestinal surgery.
He said soon after the surgery that he had recovered fully and will eat normally. But in a Jan. 24 interview with The Associated Press, Francis said his diverticulosis, or bulges within the intestinal wall, had “returned.”