Cnn
–
Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized since last week, had pneumonia in both lungs after Tomodensitometry on Tuesday, said the Vatican, with tests continuing to indicate “a complex image” for one of the oldest popes of the history of the Church.
“The Tomodensitometry of the witness chest that the Holy Father underwent this afternoon … has demonstrated the appearance of bilateral pneumonia which required additional pharmacological therapy,” wrote the Vatican on Tuesday.
The 88 -year -old pontiff – who has long been plagued by a series of medical struggles related to the lung – had received the Eucharist in the morning and “an alternative rest with prayer and reading texts” Tuesday, the press release said Vatican.
On Monday, the Vatican said that Francis had a “polymicrobial infection” of his respiratory tract which will require that his treatment in the hospital be modified.
“The results of the tests carried out in recent days and have demonstrated today a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection which has led to another change of therapy,” the Vatican said in the press release on Monday.
“All tests to date indicate a complex clinical image that will require adequate hospitalization.”
Tuesday morning, Francis woke up after a peaceful night, had breakfast and read the newspapers, according to the spokesperson for Vatican Matteo Bruni.
The Vatican said on Tuesday despite the start of pneumonia in his two lungs, “Pope Francis is in a good mood.”
“He thanks the proximity he feels at the moment and asks, with a grateful heart, that we continue to pray for him,” said the press release.
Polymicrobial infections are acute and chronic diseases that can be caused by a combination of viruses, bacteria, mushrooms and parasites, according to American health insitutions.
Before the diagnosis of pneumonia, the faithful outside the Vatican expressed themselves by the Pope’s disease and wished him a constant recovery. “We certainly want him to improve very quickly,” the Reverend Tyler Carter, an American priest, told Reuters. “He is our father and our shepherd, and we want his health and his blessing continues.”
Manuel Rossi, a visitor in Milan, in northern Italy, said: “I am 18 years old, so I saw few popes in my life and I am very close to him.
“I hope he recovers as soon as possible,” added Rossi.
Francis tried to fulfill routine obligations the first two days of hospitalization, according to Bruni.
Friday and Saturday, the Pope spoke on the phone with the Reverend Gabriel Romanelli and his assistant, Father Yusuf Asad, in Gaza City, in northern Gaza – who have been in frequent communication since Israel launched his war after the attacks of October 7.
After more than 15 months of “massacres, violence, fear and hunger” in the Palestinian enclave, the pontiff described his colleagues “to register”, the Vatican News reported on Monday.
“We heard his voice. It is true, he is more tired, ”reflects Romanelli. “He himself said,” I have to take care of myself. “But we could hear the clear voice, he listened to us well.
He did not manage the weekly prayer of Angelus on Sunday – only the second time that this has happened in its papacy almost 12 years.
The Pope was recorded in a Rome hospital last week for “diagnostic tests” concerning a respiratory tract infection, added the Vatican. They then confirmed that he was in Polyclinique Agostino Gemelli in the Italian capital. All of its public events will be canceled until Saturday, said Bruni.
The doctors had prescribed a “complete rest” for the Pope, who had embarked on an intense series of meetings and public events until his hospitalization.
When he was younger, the Argentinian chief endured severe pneumonia and had part of a lung removed. More recently, he has undergone two falls in recent months and has been seen using a wheelchair to help alleviate his limited mobility.
Francis also has diverticulitis, a common condition which can cause inflammation or colon infection. In 2021, he underwent surgery to eliminate part of his colon.
“We hope that the recovery will occur soon and that he will be able to return to Saint-Pierre to continue his mission and his work,” added Romanelli, the priest of Gaza City.