Pope Francis spent a peaceful second night in hospital for treatment of bronchitis, a Vatican source said on Friday March 31, after doctors reported a ‘marked improvement’ in the 86-year-old’s condition.
The pontiff was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Wednesday after complaining of breathing difficulties.
Medical staff said in a statement late on Thursday that Pope Francis was suffering from an ‘infectious bronchitis which required the administration of antibiotics’.
The treatment has resulted in ‘a marked improvement in his state of health’ and the pontiff could be back home in the Vatican ‘in the coming days’, it said.
By Thursday morning, Pope Francis was feeling well enough to eat, pray and work from his private suite on the tenth floor of the hospital, according to the Vatican.
‘Last night also passed peacefully,’ the source said on Friday morning.
‘According to the information I have, he will leave the Gemelli tomorrow,’ the dean of the college of cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, said on Friday.
‘That way, he could preside over all the Holy Week rites,’ Re said.
The pope’s illness has raised questions over whether he will be at services in the Holy Week and Easter, the Christian faith’s most important holiday.
Francis would normally preside over the celebrations, which begin this weekend with Palm Sunday.
The pope’s infection, just weeks after he marked 10 years as head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has sparked widespread concern, while also fuelling speculation about his future.
The Argentine, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has suffered increasing health issues in recent years, and it was his second stay in the hospital since 2021.
