This Tuesday, the Vatican announced that the activities of Papa Francisco, who remains hospitalized due to a polymicrobial respiratory infection, have been canceled. The seat of the supreme pontiff announced that papal audiences for the weekend were canceled and others have been designated to replace Francisco, 88 years old.
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Francisco was admitted to the hospital Gemelli in Rome in “regular” condition last Friday, after the worsening of the bronchitis he had been suffering from for a week. However, this Monday, doctors determined that he was suffering from a polymicrobial respiratory infection, which means that a mixture of viruses, bacteria, and possibly other organisms had settled in his respiratory tract. For this reason, the Pope has had to remain hospitalized.
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What activities were canceled due to Pope Francis’s respiratory illness?
These cancellations have overshadowed the upcoming events of the “Vatican Holy Year,” a celebration of Catholicism that occurs every 25 years and aims to encourage pilgrims to go to Rome to participate in special activities. The Jubilee is expected to attract around 30 million people to Rome and includes numerous special papal audiences and masses throughout 2025, some of which are now in question due to the illness of the Argentine pontiff.
The Vatican has not indicated how long he might remain hospitalized but noted that the treatment of a “complex clinical condition” would require an “adequate” stay.
This Holy Year weekend was dedicated to the deacons, the ministry that is a necessary step for men preparing to become priests. It was planned for Francisco to preside over a special audience with them on Saturday and ordain them in a mass on Sunday.
The upcoming jubilee events on the agenda in which the pontiff would normally participate are the weekend of March 8 and 9 and are dedicated to the volunteers.
Francisco underwent the removal of part of a lung due to an infection when he was young and is prone to episodes of bronchitis in winter. In the past, he has admitted that he is not a very compliant patient, and even his close collaborators in the Vatican said that he overexerted himself even after being diagnosed with bronchitis.