Pope Francis has developed bilateral pneumonia, the Vatican announced Tuesday, marking the latest health setback for the 88-year-old pontiff.
The new diagnosis, which means the pneumonia is in both of his lungs, comes while Francis receives treatment at a Rome hospital, where he was admitted Friday. He had previously been diagnosed with bronchitis. On Monday, the Vatican said the pontiff had a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract and that the tests performed on Francis were “indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require an adequate hospital stay.”
The Vatican said in a statement Tuesday that the pneumonia will require drug therapy. The illness was discovered after Francis underwent a chest CT scan Tuesday afternoon, the Vatican said.
According to the statement, Francis was in a good mood and spent the day resting, praying and reading.
The Vatican said Francis was thankful for the “closeness he feels at this moment” and asked for people to pray for him.
This hospitalization is the pope’s fourth. In 2023, he underwent abdominal surgery and received treatment for pneumonia earlier that year.
When Francis was a young man in his home country of Argentina, he had part of one lung removed following a pulmonary infection, which left him vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.
Earlier Tuesday, the Vatican canceled an audience Francis was scheduled to have on Saturday and announced that he wouldn’t celebrate Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.
The pope’s continuing hospitalization comes just over two weeks before the start of the annual Christian observance of Lent. The 40-day Lenten period begins on Ash Wednesday, which this year falls on March 5.
Last year, during the week leading up to Easter known as Holy Week, Francis didn’t attend a procession at Rome’s Colosseum on Good Friday to conserve his health, and the pope later led tens of thousands in Easter celebrations.
contributed to this report.