Pope Francis is once again admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. As reported by the Vatican, Francis, who is 86 years old, experienced some “respiratory difficulties” in recent days, and yesterday afternoon he went to the Roman center to carry out some medical checks. The results exclude that he caught the coronavirus, but they did identify a “respiratory infection” that will require him to be treated for “a few days” in hospital.
According to the Italian media, the Pontiff experienced some pain when breathing when he returned to his residence in Santa Marta after the general audience on Wednesday, when he was seen tired, moving with difficulty and appearing to be in severe pain. That would be when it was recommended that he be transferred to the hospital, by ambulance, to perform some tests. According to the Ansa agency, the first tests would rule out a worrying situation.
For now, the Pope could be hospitalized for several days, since, according to Vatican sources, he has canceled his meetings this Thursday and Friday in case the tests need more time. What seems clear is that he was at least going to spend the night, because his closest team, including security, is prepared to sleep in the center. It is located on the tenth floor of the Policlinico Gemelli hospital in Rome, where there is an area permanently reserved for the popes, with even an ICU, and from where he wanted to pray the Angelus in July 2021. There he would have machinery to be constantly monitored. When he was just 21 years old, the Argentine suffered a lung infection that led to an urgent surgical operation to remove the upper lobe of his right lung.
It is the same center, the Gemelli Polyclinic, where he was admitted eleven days after undergoing colon surgery in July 2021. On that occasion, 33 centimeters of intestine were removed, although he later revealed that he could eat and lead a normal life. However, in January he explained that the diverticulitis that forced him to undergo surgery for the first time had reappeared, so at first, when the Vatican only reported “pre-scheduled controls” in a brief statement, it was thought that It was a review about this ailment.
“I’m healthy. For the age that I am, I am normal. I could die tomorrow, but come on, it’s controlled, ”he joked during an interview with AP in January, in which he said that it had not occurred to him to make a will.
Francisco carried out his usual general audience on Wednesdays as normal, although after feeling unwell he canceled an interview he had scheduled with an Italian program for an Easter special. Hospital admission comes a few days before the start of Holy Week, and the Vatican program includes an intense presence of the Pontiff, beginning with the Palm Sunday mass on April 2. Right now there are doubts about whether he will be able to preside over it. “Pope Francis is moved by the many messages received and expresses gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” the Vatican settled.
