ROME — The Vatican announced Monday afternoon Pope Francis’ hospital stay would be extended for an indefinite period of time, citing a “complex” clinical condition due to an infection of the respiratory tract.
The results of the investigations carried out in past days have shown a “polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract” that has led to a “further modification of therapy,” the Vatican Press Office said in a statement.
“All the investigations carried out to date indicate a complex clinical condition that will require an adequate hospital stay,” it added.
As Breitbart News reported, last Friday the pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital to be treated for persistent bronchitis in a proper medical environment, where he could also undergo some “necessary diagnostic tests.”
Doctors have advised Francis to observe “total rest” to facilitate his full recovery, which resulted in the cancellation of his scheduled Jubilee Year events over these past days, notably the Jubilee for Artists.
While the Vatican has not said how long the 88-year-old pontiff’s hospital stay is expected to last, it announced Monday that his general audience slated for this Wednesday, February 19, had been cancelled.
A candle with a portrait of Pope Francis is set at the bottom of a statue of Pope John Paul II at the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalised for tests and treatment for bronchitis, in Rome on February 17, 2025. (TIZIANA FABI/AFP via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the Vatican further announced the cancellation of the pope’s Jubilee Audience for Saturday, February 22, suggesting that Francis’ hospital stay will exceed one week.
The pope has suffered increasing regular health issues in recent years, many of them concerning respiratory ailments, including bouts of bronchitis. He has suffered from lung-related issues for much of his life and had part of one lung removed when he was a young man, following a case…