Pope Francis in hospital with ‘respiratory infection’, audiences cancelled

Pope Francis hugs a child at the end of his weekly general audience in St Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Photo / AP

The Vatican says Pope Francis will be hospitalised for several days for treatment of a pulmonary infection after having difficulty breathing in recent days.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni says Francis, 86, does not have Covid-19 but requires several days of therapy.

He said that Francis had been suffering some breathing trouble in recent days and went to the Gemelli hospital for tests.“Tests showed a respiratory infection that will require some days of medical therapy,” Bruni said.

Pope Francis went to Rome’s Gemelli hospital and cancelled his audience for the next two days to undergo previously scheduled tests, the Vatican said.

The Vatican provided no details, including how long the 86-year-old pope would remain at Gemelli University Hospital, where he had surgery in 2021. But his audiences through Friday were cancelled, raising questions about Francis’ participation during the Vatican’s Holy Week activities starting Sunday.

Pope Francis is helped onto his car at the end of weekly general audience in St Peter's Square, at the Vatican. Photo / AP

Francis appeared in relatively good form during his regularly scheduled general audience Wednesday, though he grimaced strongly while getting in and out of the “popemobile”.

The purpose of the medical tests wasn’t immediately clear. Francis had part of one lung removed when he was a young man due to a respiratory infection, and he often speaks in a whisper.

He spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital after the 2021 surgery for an intestinal narrowing, which included the removal of 33 centimetres of his colon.

Francis is due to celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend, kicking off the Vatican’s Holy Week observances: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday on April 9.

He has used a wheelchair for more than a year because of strained ligaments in his right knee and a small knee fracture. He has said the injury was healing and has 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 during the 2021 intestinal surgery.

He said soon after the surgery that he had recovered fully and could eat normally. But in an interview with the Associated Press, Francis said his diverticulosis, or bulges in the intestinal wall, had returned.