Pope Francis’ respiratory tract infection is presenting a “complex clinical picture” and will need to be treated through an “appropriate hospital stay,” the Vatican has said.
Spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests conducted in recent days indicate the 88-year-old pontiff is suffering from a “polymicrobial respiratory tract infection” that needed a further change in his drug therapy.
There was no length of time given for his hospitalisation, but the spokesman added the complexity of his symptoms “will require an appropriate hospital stay”.
Mr Bruni said the pontiff was “in good spirits” and had eaten breakfast and read the newspapers on Monday morning after a third peaceful night.
He did not specify whether the pope was suffering from a bacterial or viral infection.
The Vatican said: “The results of the tests carried out in recent days and today have demonstrated a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract, which has led to a further modification of the therapy.
“All tests conducted up to today are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require an appropriate hospital stay.”
The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday to be treated for a respiratory tract infection.
His doctors have advised complete rest. He was unable to deliver his regular weekly prayer on Sunday to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square or lead a special mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year.
On social media at the weekend, the pope wrote: “Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you accompany me in these days.”
The pope had been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week before he was taken to hospital.
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However, from his hospital bed at the weekend, the pope continued to make phone calls to members of a Catholic parish in Gaza, Italian broadcaster Mediaset reported.
A parish member said the pope had called on both Friday and Saturday and was in “good humour” but sounded “a bit tired”.
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The pontiff is being treated at Rome’s largest hospital in a designed suite for popes, which was also used by the late Pope John Paul II during his long papacy.
In June 2023, Pope Francis spent nine days at the Gemelli hospital when he had surgery for an abdominal hernia.
