Doctors had said the day before that tests revealed a "polymicrobial infection" of the year-old pope's respiratory system, meaning it is caused by a virus-bacteria combination. The infection, along with the "bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis," which the pope suffers from after years of respiratory problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis, "required the use of cortisone antibiotic therapy," it said, which made "therapeutic treatment more complex.
Still, the statement said, "Pope Francis is in good spirits. This morning he received the Eucharist, and throughout the day he alternated rest with prayer and reading texts. Pope Francis thanked people "for the closeness he feels at this time and asks, with a grateful heart, that we continue to pray for him," the press office said. Earlier in the day, the Vatican had announced that "due to the Holy Father's health condition," his appointments had been canceled through Feb.
In addition, the note said, "Pope Francis has delegated Archbishop Rino Fisichella," pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and chief organizer of the Holy Year , to celebrate the Mass and ordinations of permanent deacons Feb. Pope Francis was hospitalized Feb.
A source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Feb. A statue of St. John Paul II stands outside the Gemelli hospital, which the Polish pontiff helped make known around the world because of multiple stays there, particularly after a would-be assassin shot him in May As Pope Francis is being treated on the hospital's 10th floor, in the same suite of rooms St. John Paul and his entourage would use, people are leaving flowers, cards and lighted votive candles at the statue.
Although he did not sign his name, he used the hashtags MissionaryOfMercy and BourbonFairy, which led to his account on X. By the time a Catholic News Service photographer arrived at the statue not long after Father Sichko had gone, the bottle of bourbon had been removed.
