ROME — Pope Francis has been admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital to be treated for persistent bronchitis, the Vatican announced Friday.
In a statement to journalists, the Holy See Press Office said that Pope Francis was sent to the Gemelli Polyclinic hospital for some “necessary diagnostic tests” and to continue treatment for his ongoing bronchitis in a hospital environment.
Later in the day, the press office added that Saturday’s special audience for the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture has been canceled and Mass will be presided over by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The 88-year-old pope’s meeting with artists, which was scheduled to take place Monday in Cinecittà, the largest film studio in Europe, has been cancelled due to his inability to participate, the Vatican added.
Christopher Lamb, CNN’s Vatican Correspondent, who saw Francis at a Friday audience prior to the pope’s hospitalization, reported that the pontiff seemed mentally alert but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties.
Francis suffered a similar health scare in 2023 and spent three nights in the hospital after having been rushed there in an ambulance. The pope had complained of breathing difficulties and pains in his chest.
A candle with a picture of Pope Francis is set at the bottom of a statue of Pope John Paul II at the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized for tests and treatment for bronchitis in Rome, on February 14, 2025. The 88-year-old, who has been breathless in recent days and delegated officials to read his speeches, was admitted following his morning audiences. (ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty)
On that occasion, the Vatican Press Office said the pope was being treated with antibiotics for a “respiratory infection,” which it later identified as bronchitis.
As the pope was leaving the hospital, a reporter asked him how he was doing, to which Francis replied, “I’m still alive.”
In July 2021, Francis underwent intestinal surgery for diverticular stenosis and had 13 inches of his colon removed. On that occasion, the pope was also put under general anesthesia, with a team of ten doctors and experts in attendance.
Francis has suffered from lung-related issues for much of his life and had part of one lung removed when he was a young man, following a bout of severe pneumonia.
Despite his medical issues Francis has kept up a busy calendar of events and travel, and last September visited four countries in the Asia Pacific over a 12-day period. This was the longest trip of his pontificate and the most continuous time he has spent away from the Vatican since his election.
Last week, the Vatican announced that the pope would meet Britain’s King Charles III in April.
Francis has been pope since 2013, when he was elected as the first pontiff from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order, founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola.
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