He Pope Francisco86 years old, who was admitted to a roman hospital from Wednesday for a Respiratory infectionis “better” and “returned to work”, the Vatican announced Thursday, dispelling concerns about the health of the head of the Catholic Church.
“His Holiness Pope Francis rested well during the night. The clinical picture is progressively improving and the planned treatments continue. This morning, after breakfast, he read some newspapers and returned to work” from his room, the pope’s spokesman said in a statement. , Matteo Bruni.
In addition, before lunch, he went to the chapel of the hospital apartment to pray and attend mass.
The same pontiff sent a message in which he was “moved” by the numerous expressions of solidarity that he has received since his hospitalization this Wednesday.
“I am moved by the many messages that I have received in these hours; I thank everyone for their closeness and their prayers,” the 86-year-old pontiff said in a tweet on his official account.
I am moved by the numerous messages that I have received in these hours; I thank everyone for their closeness and their prayers.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex_es) March 30, 2023
Future appointments with the head of the Catholic Church were cancelled, and the Vatican indicated that Francis would remain hospitalized for “several days” for treatment.
The pontiff is on the tenth floor of the Roman Gemelli hospital, completely reserved for the popes and called “Vatican 3” for the seven times in which John Paul II was hospitalized, who died in 2005.
(You can read: This is what the first medical report says about the health of Pope Francis)
The Argentine pope has already been hospitalized in that health center, which enjoys his confidence.
His unexpected hospitalization raised strong questions about the real state of health of the first Latin American pope in history.
After assuring that it was “scheduled controls”, the Vatican spokesman finally announced, after several hours of silence, that the pope suffered from a “respiratory infection.”
“In recent days he complained of respiratory difficulties, which is why he had to undergo medical check-ups on the day,” Bruni explained in a note.
The medical controls “revealed a respiratory infection” and although covid-19 was excluded, “it will require several days of adequate hospital medical treatment,” he specified.
According to internal sources at the hospital, it is possible that the pontiff could preside over the mass on April 2 on Palm Sunday in the Vatican, “except unforeseen”. With this mass the celebrations for Holy Week open, which culminates with Easter, the most important festival of Christianity.
(Also: The five days in which the Pope filled Colombia with hope)
Religious sources maintain that the Vatican is organizing an alternative program in case the pope is unable to preside over religious ceremonies. In any case, these are long and exhausting ceremonies, such as the Via Crucis in the open air at the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday, for a person who has been hospitalized for several days.
Francisco also has a trip to Hungary scheduled for the end of April, to the city of Budapest, to attend the closing of an International Eucharistic Encounter.
The hospitalization surprised public opinion, especially since on Wednesday Jorge Bergoglio participated with total normality in the traditional general audience in Saint Peter’s Squareduring which he appeared smiling, greeting the faithful from his “popemobile”.
“Pope: The great fear”, headlined the newspaper La Stampa this Thursday, describing those dramatic moments, after pointing out “a strong pain in the chest” for which his assistants decided to urgently call an ambulance and admit him immediately.
(Keep reading: This is how a Colombian reporter experienced the scoop on the election of Pope Francis)
Personalities and political leaders from all over the world have sent him messages of a speedy recovery, including the president of the United States, Joe Biden, who asked for prayers for the pope’s health.
Francisco, who has been using a wheelchair since May 2022 due to arthritis in one knee, underwent colon surgery in July 2021 at the same hospital in Rome, where he stayed for ten days.
It is true that I wrote my resignation two months after my election (in March 2013).
In several interviews given in recent months, the pope has spoken of the possibility of resigning, just as his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died at the end of 2022, did in 2013.
“It is true that I wrote my resignation two months after my election (in March 2013)… I did it in case I have any health problem that prevents me from exercising my ministry,” Francisco said, although he later clarified that he had not yet thought about to resign his position.
The pontiff is constantly cared for by a team of doctors and nurses, either in the Vatican or during his trips abroad. A more than necessary measure due to his age and his medical history, since at the age of 21 he was about to die from pleurisy and suffered a partial ablation of one of his lungs.
ANGIE RUIZ
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With EFE and AFP
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