Pope Francis is suffering from pneumonia but is nevertheless in “good spirits”, the Vatican has said.
The Holy See has been forced to cancel this weekend’s Holy Year events, the Vatican added, after scans of his chest on Tuesday which revealed the inflammatory condition in both lungs.
In a statement, the Vatican said: “The follow-up chest CT scan to which the Holy Father underwent this afternoon… demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy.”
Pope Francis was admitted to hospital on Friday after a week-long battle with bronchitis.
On Monday, the Vatican said tests carried out in recent days showed the Pope had “a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, which has led to a further change in therapy”.
He has been battling the infection for about 11 days, with the Vatican initially stating that he was admitted to the Agostino Gemelli Policlinico Hospital in Rome for “necessary diagnostic checks” and “treatment for bronchitis in a hospital environment”.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, a Vatican spokesman said: “Laboratory tests, chest X-ray, and the Holy Father’s clinical condition continue to present a complex picture.”
The polymicrobial infection, which arose on a picture of bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis and which required the use of cortisone antibiotic therapy, makes therapeutic treatment more complex.
Pope ‘alternating rest with prayer and reading’
The spokesman added: “The follow-up chest CT scan which the Holy Father had this afternoon, prescribed by the Vatican health team and the medical team of the A Gemelli Polyclinic Foundation, showed the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy.
“Nevertheless, Pope Francis is in good spirits. This morning he received the Eucharist, and throughout the day he alternated rest with prayer and reading texts.
“He gives thanks for the closeness he feels at this time and asks, with a grateful heart, that we continue to pray for him.”
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Italian immigrants in Buenos Aires, the pontiff took the papal name Francis I in 2013, honouring St. Francis of Assisi, the 12th-century friar known for his devotion to nature and the poor.
On Sunday, Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, had said the Pope was “in good spirits” and had had a tranquil night before eating breakfast and reading the newspapers.
That day, the Pope wrote on X: “Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you are accompanying me in these days.”
The Pope’s doctors had earlier ordered complete rest. He was unable to deliver his weekly prayer to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on Sunday or lead a scheduled Mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s jubilee year.
The Vatican cancelled the Pope’s visit to Rome’s Cinecitta film studios on Monday, and scrapped his weekly audience, scheduled for Wednesday.
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