Pope Francis hospitalised after having breathing issues

Pope Francis spent the night in hospital in Rome, where he got treatment on Thursday for a respiratory infection.

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POPE FRANCIS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL ON WEDNESDAY

A spokesman said that Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Wednesday for previously scheduled tests

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that the tests showed a respiratory infection that was not Covid-19, requiring “a few days of appropriate hospital medical treatment.

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The hospitalisation is a few weeks after what marked a decade as head of the Catholic Church.

Bruni said that the he suffered from chronic knee pain that has required him to use a wheelchair. His postponement last year of a scheduled trip to Africa and various events at home fueled intense speculation about his health, and in a July 2022 interview he acknowledged that he needed to slow down.

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CANCELLED TRIP TO AFRICA SPARKED RESIGNING RUMOURS

As previously reported, Pope Francis has fuelled the rumour mill with a postponed Africa trip and the curious timing of an upcoming meeting of cardinals — but experts caution against assuming a resignation is nigh.

Hobbled by pain in his knee and forced to use a wheelchair in recent weeks, the 85-year-old pontiff postponed a July trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan last year.

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In July 2021 he was admitted to the same hospital for 10 days for an operation on his colon after suffering from a type of diverticulitis, which is a type of inflammation of pockets that develops in the lining of the intestine.