Pope Francis will remain in a Rome hospital after being admitted late last week following a series of tests that indicated a “complex clinical picture,” the Vatican said on Monday, raising fresh concerns about the 88-year-old pontiff’s health.
Diagnostic tests carried out after Francis was taken to Policlinico A. Gemelli on Friday presented “a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection,” and his doctors had changed treatment accordingly, the Vatican said in a statement.
The complex clinical picture “would require an appropriate medical stay,” it said, without elaborating. In an evening update, the Vatican said Francis was in “stable” condition, with no fever.
A polymicrobial respiratory tract infection means that the Pope has a mix of microbes, like viruses or bacteria, infecting his lungs or another part of his respiratory tract. It usually is not a good sign because healthy people seldom get such infections, said Dr. James M. Musser, director of the center for infectious diseases at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Francis was hospitalized in 2023 with a respiratory infection, but was able to leave the hospital after three days.
Francis has had a busy schedule since New Year’s Eve, when he presided over the opening of the 2025 Jubilee, held every 25 years in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican announced in early February that Francis had bronchitis, but he continued his activities, holding smaller audiences at the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he lives, but presiding over larger gatherings and Masses with thousands of pilgrims, including an outdoor Mass in St. Peter’s Square earlier this month.
In recent weeks, Francis had admitted to having respiratory difficulties. On several occasions, he asked aides to read his homilies and speeches for him.
After he entered the hospital, doctors prescribed complete rest. Subsequent medical updates said he was in “stable” condition.
The pope had part of a lung removed as a young man. In his autobiography, “Hope,” published last month, Francis wrote that in 1957, doctors cut away the upper lobe of his right lung after they found three large cysts. He spent days in an oxygen tent, he wrote. “The pain was terrible.”
His medical challenges have become more numerous with age. He has knee problems and sciatica that have caused a severe limp and, in recent years, have often required him to use a wheelchair, walker or cane.
The fact that the Pope uses a wheelchair can make him more susceptible to such respiratory infections, Dr. Musser said, because people who use wheelchairs often do not take the sort of deep breaths needed to adequately clear their lungs.
In 2021, Francis had colon surgery. After his bout with bronchitis in 2023, he was hospitalized again a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery for a hernia. Last year, he underwent diagnostic tests at the Gemelli hospital after a slight flu.
On Monday morning, Francis received communion, ate breakfast and read some newspapers after a restful night, said Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, adding that the pontiff was “in good spirits.” In an evening update, the Vatican said that Francis had also turned his attention to unspecified “work activities,” and had done some reading.
The Vatican said Francis was “touched by the many messages of affection and closeness that he continues to receive in these hours,” particularly from people who were also hospitalized and were sending him drawings and get well messages. “He prays for them and asks that they pray for him,” the Vatican said.
Several visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday shared their concerns about the pontiff’s health.
Sabrina Geroni, a clothing designer from Florence, was among the hundreds of pilgrims who walked through the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, a central Jubilee ritual, and she prayed for Francis’ speedy recovery. “He’s our earthly shepherd and I feel very grateful to him,” she said.
Gina Kolata contributed reporting.
