With his advanced age and frail health, Pope Francis is having a tough time navigating the Jubilee year of 2025.
It arises today (17) that his hospitalization had to be extended, for his respiratory tract infection is presenting a ‘complex clinical picture’.
Concerns are mounting about the increasingly delicate health condition of the 88-year-old pontiff.
New York Post reported:
“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 further change in his drug therapy. Scientists say polymicrobial diseases are caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.
There was no timeframe given for his hospitalization, which has already sidelined him for longer than a 2023 hospitalization for pneumonia. Bruni said the complexity of his symptoms ‘will require an appropriate hospital stay’.”
Francis was taken to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday, after a weeklong struggle with bronchitis worsened.
He was said to be in ‘stable’ condition – but obviously, not stable enough to be released.
“The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man, is a known workaholic who keeps up a grueling pace despite his increasingly precarious health. He uses a wheelchair, walker or cane because of bad knees and suffers from sciatica nerve pain. In 2021 he had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed because of a narrowing, and then had a further surgery in 2023 to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair an abdominal hernia.”
This hospitalization is already longer than his ‘bad case’ of pneumonia back in 2023, when he left the hospital after three days.
The impact of his health issues on the calendar of Jubilee events is just starting to be measured by Vatican officials.
“Francis’ continued hospitalization has already forced the cancellation of some events connected to the Vatican’s Holy Year and put others in question. The Holy See has only confirmed canceled appointments through Monday. Francis was supposed to have gone to Rome’s Cinecitta film studios to meet with artists as part of the Catholic Church’s Holy Year celebrations.”
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