O pope francis must leave the hospital on Saturday (1st), the Vatican said in a statement on Friday (31st), after the last tests he underwent in the morning.
The pontiff, 86 years old and suffering from various illnesses, was taken to the Gemelli hospital in Rome two days ago after complaints of breathing difficulties.
In a previous statement, the Vatican said Francis had a significant improvement in health after receiving antibiotics for a bronchitis infection. “Pope Francis spent the afternoon at the Gemelli hospital dedicating himself to rest, prayer and some work,” the Vatican said.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re assesses that the pontiff will be able to participate in all the celebrations of the Easter week.
“According to the information I have, he will leave the Gemelli tomorrow,” said the rector of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, on Friday. “That way he could preside over all the rites of Holy Week,” Re told Italian news agency Adnkronos on Friday.
Francis, who this month completed 10 years as pope, sometimes feels short of breath and is generally more exposed to respiratory problems. He had part of a lung removed in his early 20s, while training to be a priest in his native Argentina.
The leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Roman Catholics also suffers from diverticulitis, a condition that can infect or inflame the colon, and had surgery at Gemelli hospital in 2021 to remove part of his colon.
He said in January that the condition had returned and was causing him to gain weight, but he wasn’t too worried. He didn’t go into detail.
In addition, he has a knee problem and alternates between using a cane and a wheelchair in his public appearances.
His latest hospitalization has revived speculation about a possible resignation on health grounds, following the historical precedent of his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died in December.
However, Francis indicated that he would only follow suit if he was severely disabled.
Asked by Italian-Swiss television RSI in an interview broadcast on March 12 about what condition would lead him to give up, he said: “A tiredness that doesn’t let you see things clearly. A lack of clarity, of knowing how to assess situations”.
Source: CNN Brasil
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