He Pope Francisco, 86 years old, was hospitalized this Wednesday and had to suspend his weekly commitments. The pontiff is in the Gemelli hospital in Rome, in Italy, for “respiratory difficulty and heart problems”as reported by the Italian media Courier.
He Vaticanmeanwhile, spread that the Pope “scheduled controls” are being carried out and that, for this reason, the hearings scheduled for this Thursday and Friday were suspended. “Space has been made on the agenda so that the controls can continue for as long as necessary,” he told telam a Vatican source.
The suspended activities include an interview with an Italian television program in the Regina Coeli prison in Rome, the sources said.
“The Holy Father has been at the Gemelli since this afternoon for some previously scheduled controls,” the papal spokesman Matteo Bruni had reported earlier in a statement released at 4:37 p.m. (11:37 in Argentina).
Previous hospitalizations of the Pope
In 2021Jorge Bergoglio underwent surgery at the Gemelli for “symptomatic diverticular stenosis” of the colon, opportunity in which he spent 10 days outside the Vatican until he was discharged. In the intervention, 33 centimeters of intestine were removed and although it was officially reported that he had fully recovered, in an interview at the end of January the Pope stated that the diverticulitis “had returned”, without giving further details.
In June 2022, meanwhile, the pontiff had to postpone a trip to Africa due to a knee problem that made it difficult for him to move, for which he began to use a wheelchair. Currently, he is still recovering from the injury and uses a cane to get around.
Months ago, consulted by the press, he said that he rejects the idea of a leg operation to avoid the long consequences that the anesthesia of the 2021 intervention left him.