Pope Francis health update: All you need to know

Pope Francis remains in hospital with pneumonia in both lungs. The Vatican on Monday said he had “a complex clinical picture” that would require he stay hospitalised. The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday to undergo treatment and tests for bronchitis.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests conducted in recent days and Monday indicate the pope is suffering from a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection that has necessitated a second change in his drug therapy since being hospitalised on Friday.

Scientists say polymicrobial diseases are caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Bilateral pneumonia is an infection that affects both lungs, and can make breathing difficult.

There was no timeframe given for his hospitalisation, which at Day 4 has already sidelined Francis for longer than a 2023 hospitalisation for pneumonia. Bruni said the complexity of his symptoms “will require an appropriate hospital stay”.

In a late update on Monday, Bruni said the Pope's condition was “stationary,” and that he had resumed some work activities and reading. The Vatican Press Office statement said the Pope had "received the Eucharist and, throughout the day, alternated between rest, prayer, and reading. He expresses his gratitude for the support he feels at this time and kindly asks that prayers for him continue.”

The parish priest of the Catholic Church in Gaza, the Rev Gabriel Romanelli, reported that Pope Francis had maintained his daily video call to the church on Friday and Saturday night. He sent a text message on Sunday.

“We heard his voice. It's true, it was more tired,” Romanelli told Vatican News. “But we heard his voice clearly and he listened to us,” said the Argentine priest, whom Francis has phoned every day of the Gaza war.

Doctors confirmed a respiratory tract infection and prescribed “absolute rest” alongside unspecified drug therapies. Further updates said his slight fever had gone away and that he was in “stationary” condition.

A Vatican official speaking on Wednesday, said the Pope had not been put on a ventilator and was breathing on his own.

Ahead of the latest statement, the Vatican announced that all public events on the Pope's calendar had been cancelled through Sunday.

The Pope was to lead several events over the weekend for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, which will last till next January.

It is a special time of pardon and forgiveness for Catholics and the Vatican expects 32 million tourists to visit Rome throughout the year, including for a range of special audiences with the Pope.

The current hospitalisation of the Pope has raised concerns about his overall health. This is his fourth hospitalisation in the past four years.

The Pope has helmed the Catholic Church since March 2013 and has encountered many bouts of illnesses. He had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young 21-year-old and is prone to bouts of bronchitis in winter.

According to a report by BBC, in 2023 he was hospitalised for three days in March with bronchitis and in June he underwent a surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.

He was forced to cancel his trip to UAE for the COP28 climate summit in 2023 due to a bout of illness.

In December 2024 when he led a ceremony in St Peter's Basilica to install 21 Catholic cardinals, he had a bruise on his chin due to minor fall.

Early this year in January, he fell and hurt his right arm and a sling was put as precaution. Due to knee problems and sciatica nerve pain he uses a wheelchair or walking cane.

Outside the Gemelli Hospital, people were praying for the Pope. He had so many hospitalisations at Gemelli that the main entry is decorated with a permanent photo exhibition of his ailments during the course of his quarter-century pontificate.

Sister Mary Beatrice Nnenji said prayers were necessary “because no one is strong enough on their own”.

“With age also you feel your health and especially with his workload and all the efforts he makes,” she said. “So if God wants he will go on. Let's hope in God, we cannot go against it, whatever comes.”

(With Reuters and PTI inputs)