Pope Francis spends night in hospital after breathing issues

Pope Francis spent the night at a hospital in Rome, where he will be treated for a respiratory infection, according to the Vatican, on Thursday.

A spokesman initially said that the pontiff was brought to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Wednesday for previously scheduled tests, but a later statement revealed that Francis had complained of “breathing difficulties” in prior days.

According to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni, tests revealed a respiratory infection that was not Covid-19, requiring “a few days of appropriate hospital medical treatment.”

According to a Vatican source, the pope’s appointments for Thursday morning have been cancelled.

Francis’ admission, which prompted a few dozen journalists to camp outside the hospital on Wednesday night, occurred just a few weeks after he marked a decade as Pope.

It also comes just ahead of Holy Week and Easter, the two most important Christian holidays.

Francis has been confined to a wheelchair for the past year because of chronic knee pain.

His postponement of a planned trip to Africa and other events at home last year fueled intense speculation about his health, and he acknowledged in a July 2022 interview that he needed to slow down.

The pope was in good spirits at his weekly audience at the Vatican on Wednesday morning, smiling as he greeted the faithful from his “popemobile.”

Nonetheless, he was seen visibly grimacing as he was carried into the vehicle.

Francis was brought to the same Rome hospital in July 2021 for a 10-day hospitalization for a colon procedure after suffering from a kind of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that form in the lining of the intestine.

Francis said in a January interview that the diverticulitis had resurfaced.

Francis has said repeatedly, most recently in February, that if his health demanded it, he would consider stepping down, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Nonetheless, he has warned that papal resignations should not be the norm, and stated in an interview last month that the idea was not currently “on my agenda.”