The Vatican on Tuesday cancelled two of Pope Francis’s events at the weekend while the 88-year-old continues to receive hospital treatment for bronchitis.
The Holy See had already indicated on Monday that the pontiff, who was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday, would stay longer than initially believed due to a “complex” clinical picture.
“Due to the health conditions of the Holy Father, the Jubilee audience of Saturday, February 22 is cancelled,” it said.
It added that the pontiff has delegated a senior Vatican clergyman to celebrate a planned mass on Sunday morning.
The Vatican statement did not mention the Angelus prayer, which the pope normally delivers at midday (1100 GMT) on Sunday but which he missed last weekend.
Francis, the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to hospital after struggling for several days to read his texts in public.
It is the latest of a series of health issues for the Argentine Jesuit, who has undergone hernia and colon surgery since 2021 and uses a wheelchair due to pain in his knee.
On Monday, the Vatican said tests had confirmed “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment”.
“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation,” it said.
In an update on Monday evening, it said the pope’s condition was unchanged.
The Holy Father remains without a fever and is proceeding with the prescribed treatment,” it said.
The pontiff had “received the Eucharist” on Monday morning “and subsequently dedicated himself to some work and reading texts”, it said.
“Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness he continues to receive,” it added.
– Pilgrims pray –
Among the pilgrims and tourists gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Tuesday morning, many said they were praying for the pope’s recovery.
“I hope that he’s getting better soon. I trust in the medical treatment of the general practitioners of the hospital and I hope they will give their best,” Birgit Jungreuthmayer, a 48-year-old Austrian tourist, told AFP.
Despite his health troubles, Francis remains a very active pontiff, with a busy weekly schedule and regular overseas trips.
In September 2024, he completed a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, the longest of his papacy by duration and distance.
He followed last Sunday’s mass on television from hospital and sent a written address for the Angelus.
“I would have liked to be among you but, as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Hospital because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis,” Francis wrote.
The Jesuit has left open the option of resigning if he became unable to carry out his duties.
His predecessor, Benedict XVI, stunned the world in 2013 by becoming the first pope since the Middle Ages to step down, citing his ailing health.
But in a memoir published last year, Francis wrote that he did “not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning”.
Resignation is a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”, he wrote.
In an autobiography published last month, he said that despite his ailments, “I carry on”.
“The reality is, quite simply, that I am old,” he said.
