Pope spends quiet first night in hospital, continues drug therapy and reads papers, Vatican says – The Associated Press
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Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday to treat a weeklong bout of bronchitis and undergo diagnostic tests, the Vatican said, confirming the latest issues with the 88-year-old’s pontiff’s health that forced him to cancel his agenda through Monday at least. (AP video: Paolo Lucariello, Trisha Thomas)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection, is seen on a tv camera monitor, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II and the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection, are reflected in a puddle, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Journalists wait outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalized Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
ROME (AP) — Doctors on Saturday prescribed “absolute rest” for Pope Francis and modified the treatment for his respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said, a day after the 88-year-old pope was admitted to a hospital following a weeklong bout of bronchitis.
On doctors’ orders, Francis won’t deliver his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he could have done from his hospital room if he was well enough.
The Argentine pope, a known workaholic who keeps up a grueling pace despite his many ailments, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after his bronchitis worsened. It was his fourth hospitalization since his 2013 election and raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.
Preliminary tests showed that he had a respiratory tract infection, which was confirmed Saturday. In a late afternoon bulletin, the Vatican said that Francis had no fever on Saturday and that tests showed improvement in some parameters.
Francis slept well during a quiet first night in the hospital, ate breakfast, read the newspapers and received the Eucharist on Saturday, alternating rest with prayer and reading during the afternoon, the Vatican said.
The Vatican canceled his audiences through Monday at least.
Francis, who had part of one lung removed after a lung infection when he was a young man, has kept up a frenetic pace of late. He has packed his days with private audiences while taking on the added obligations of steering the Catholic Church through its Holy Year.
Starting at Christmas, he has had Jubilee events nearly every other weekend, including one honoring the armed forces l
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