The Vatican has stated that Pope Francis was hospitalized on Friday (local time) due to a worsening case of bronchitis and is receiving medication for a respiratory infection. This follows the cancellation of his scheduled engagements, at least through Monday, due to illness.
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03-04, 2025Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that Pope Francis is in good spirits and calm. He arrived at Rome's Gemelli Hospital after presiding over the morning's audiences and spent time reading newspapers.
The Vatican released a statement in the evening stating that initial examinations revealed Pope Francis has a respiratory infection with a slight fever. He is currently receiving medication at Gemelli Hospital and his condition is "OK."
Pope Francis had previously complained of breathing difficulties and was diagnosed with bronchitis on February 6, but he continued with his daily audiences from his Vatican hotel suite. He presided over Sunday's outdoor Mass and attended Wednesday's public audience. However, he has been having aides read his speeches, saying he was having trouble breathing. On Friday, before going to the hospital, he held a few audiences, during which he appeared pale and puffy, suggesting water retention from medication he was taking for the lung infection.
CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb reported that he saw Pope Francis at the start of a meeting with CNN President Mark Thompson on Friday. The Pope was mentally sharp but had difficulty speaking for extended periods due to breathing problems. Pope Francis, who had part of a lung removed when he was younger, has long struggled with health issues, particularly acute bronchitis during the winter months. He uses a wheelchair, walker, or cane when moving around his apartment and recently suffered two falls, injuring his arm and jaw.
Pope Francis is receiving treatment at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he was last admitted in June 2023 for surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair an abdominal wall hernia. Several months prior, he spent three days at Gemelli Hospital receiving intravenous antibiotics for a respiratory infection. He later revealed that he was rushed to the hospital on March 29, 2023, with a high fever and severe chest pain. He said he was diagnosed with "acute and bilateral pneumonia in the lower part of the lungs."
The Vatican said Pope Francis was taken to Gemelli Hospital after his audiences on Friday. In addition to Vatican officials and Thompson, the Pope also met with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Friday morning. "This morning, after the audience, Pope Francis was taken to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic for some diagnostic checks, which revealed a respiratory infection (excluding Covid-19) that will require a few days of appropriate hospital medical therapy," the Vatican said in a statement, adding that he was receiving treatment for bronchitis that he has been dealing with.
The statement did not provide details about how long Pope Francis would be hospitalized, but the Vatican later announced that the Pope would cancel his participation in events scheduled before Monday. The Pope had a busy weekend planned, including meeting with artists participating in the Jubilee on Saturday, celebrating Mass for them on Sunday, and visiting Rome's famous Cinecittà film studios on Monday. The Vatican said that while a Vatican cardinal would substitute for the Pope at the Mass, other events were canceled due to the "inability of the Holy Father to participate."
At Gemelli Hospital, where popes have a private suite on the 10th floor, passersby expressed both concern and hope. Prayer candles, some bearing images of Pope Francis, were placed around a statue of St. John Paul II, which greets visitors at the hospital's entrance. Nino Davi, who was also receiving treatment at Gemelli Hospital, arrived from Palermo, Sicily, earlier on Friday and said, "I sincerely hope he gets better because these terrible illnesses, you don't wish them on anyone. So I sincerely hope he gets better."
The Vatican's statement was released before Pope Francis was hospitalized, a contrast to the way his hospitalization was announced in 2023, which caused confusion. Initially, the Vatican said he was only undergoing scheduled checkups, but the Pope later revealed that the situation was far more urgent and that he had been rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. He received intravenous antibiotics and was discharged on April 1, leaving with a joke that he was "still alive." He later told reporters, "Thank God I was able to tell the story, because my body reacted well to the treatment."
In July 2021, Pope Francis underwent bowel surgery for a narrowing of the colon, spending 10 days in the same hospital. He credited his personal nurse at the time with saving his life by insisting that he get the problem checked out. It was not the first time he has praised nurses for saving his life.
Pope Francis recounted his near-death experience with a lung infection as a young man in his recent autobiographies, "Hope" and "Life," attributing his survival to an Italian nun named Sister Cornelia Caraglio. "She was an experienced, educated woman, who had been a teacher in Greece, and she immediately realised the seriousness of my condition: she called a specialist, who drew a litre and a half of liquid from my lungs. The slow and uncertain ascent from the edge of death began," he recalled in "Hope."
He recalled that it was she who ordered the dosage to be doubled after the doctor prescribed a certain amount of penicillin and streptomycin. "She had intuition and practical experience, and certainly no lack of courage," he recalled. "My companions came to see me from the seminary; some even gave me blood transfusions. Gradually, the fever decided to leave me and the light began to return."
Pope Francis survived, but during the treatment, he had to have the upper lobe of his right lung removed because three cysts had grown there. "The surgical procedure used the techniques of the time: you can imagine the incision they made, and the pain I suffered," he said in "Life."
