Pope Francis will remain in a hospital in Rome after being admitted at the end of last week following a series of tests that indicated a “complex clinical picture”, said the Vatican on Monday, raising new concerns for the health of the 88 -year -old Ponteff .
On Friday they presented diagnostic tests conducted after Francis was brought to Polyclinic A. Gemelli presented “a polymicrobial respiratory section” and his doctors changed the treatment accordingly, said the Vatican in a note.
The complex clinical picture “would require an adequate medical stay,” he said, without elaborating.
Francis was hospitalized in 2023 with a respiratory infection, but was able to leave the hospital after three days.
Francis had an intense program since the New Year’s Eve, when he chaired the opening of the Jubilee of 2025, held every 25 years in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican announced at the beginning of February that Francis had bronchitis, but continued his activities, keeping a smaller audience at the Santa Marta house, the Vatican retirement where he lives, but chairing larger meetings and masses with thousands of pilgrims , including an outdoor mass in Piazza di San Pietro at the beginning of this month.
The Vatican said that a general audience was canceled on Wednesday.
After entering the hospital, doctors prescribed complete rest. Subsequent medical updates said they were in “stable” conditions.
The Pope, who was part of a lung removed as a young man, has a recent history of medical challenges. He has knee and sciatica problems that have caused a serious limiting and, in recent years, he has often asked him to use a wheelchair, a wolder or a barrel.
In 2021, he had colon surgery. After his meeting with bronchitis in 2023, he was again hospitalized a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery for an hernia. Last year, he suffered diagnostic tests at the Gemelli hospital after a slight influence.
On Monday morning, Francis had breakfast and read some newspapers after a restful night, said Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, adding that the pontiff was “in a good mood”. Bruni said that a medical update will be issued later on Monday.