Pope has pneumonia in both lungs, the Vatican says

Rome: Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs, the Vatican says, after new tests showed a further complication in the condition of the 88-year-old pontiff.

The Vatican said Francis’ respiratory infection also involved asthmatic bronchitis, which requires the use of cortisone antibiotic treatment.

Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, last Wednesday.Credit: AP

“Laboratory tests, chest X-ray, and the Holy Father’s clinical condition continue to present a complex picture,” the Vatican said.

Nevertheless, the Pope, who had the upper lobe of his right lung removed as a young man, was in good spirits and was grateful for the prayers for his recovery, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital in a “fair” condition on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.

This week, medical personnel determined he was suffering from a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, meaning a mix of viruses, bacteria and possibly other organisms had colonised his respiratory tract.

Nuns sit next to a statue of Pope John Paul II on Monday in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome where Pope Francis has been hospitalised.Credit: AP

“The follow-up chest CT scan which the Holy Father underwent this afternoon ... demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy,” Bruni said.

Bronchitis can lead to pneumonia, which is a deeper and far more serious infection of the lungs’ air sacs. Treatment varies by severity but can include providing oxygen through a nasal tube or mask, intravenous fluids, and treatment of the underlying cause of the infection.

To date Pope Francis is not known to be using supplemental oxygen, and he has eaten breakfast every day, read the newspapers and done some work from his hospital room.

The Vatican has given no indication of how long the Pope might remain hospitalised, only saying that the treatment of such a “complex clinical picture”, which has already required two changes in his drug regimen, would require an “adequate” stay.

The Pope once again had a peaceful night, ate breakfast and read the newspapers in the morning, Bruni said. Despite the less than positive news about Francis’ condition, a rainbow appeared over the Gemelli hospital on Tuesday afternoon.

On Monday, Francis resumed doing some work and made his daily call to a Gaza City parish to check in on the Catholic community there.

In a sign that other Vatican business was proceeding as usual Tuesday, the Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, continued his delicate visit to Burkina Faso and another top Vatican cardinal, Cardinal Michael Czerny, prepared to leave on Wednesday for a five-day visit to Lebanon.

But other business had to be cancelled. There will be no weekly general audience on Wednesday, and it’s not clear if Pope Francis will miss his Sunday noon blessing for a second week in a row. His hospitalisation has also forced the cancellation of some events surrounding the Vatican Holy Year, the ceremony held every 25 years, for which millions of pilgrims flock to Rome.

This Holy Year weekend was dedicated to deacons, the ministry that is a necessary step for men who are preparing to become priests. Francis had an unrelated audience on Saturday and was supposed to have ordained the deacons during a Mass on Sunday. The Vatican said his audience was cancelled and that the archbishop who is organising the Jubilee would celebrate the Mass in the Pope’s place.

It’s a similar arrangement to the one the Vatican announced last weekend, when artists in town had to settle for a scrapped papal audience and a cardinal presiding over their special Mass.

The next Jubilee events on the calendar that would typically involve the Pope are the March 8-9 weekend dedicated to volunteers.

Francis had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man and is prone to bouts of bronchitis in winter. He has admitted in the past that he is a non-compliant patient, and even his close Vatican aides have said he pushed himself too far even once his bronchitis was diagnosed.

He refused to let up on his busy schedule and ignored medical advice to stay indoors during Rome’s chilly winter, insisting on sitting through an outdoor Jubilee Mass for the armed forces on February 9, even though he was having trouble breathing.

Francis’ hospital admission this year has already sidelined him for longer than a 2023 hospitalisation for pneumonia.

AP