The Vatican cancels more events of the holy year while the Pope remains hospitalized

Rome (AP) – The Vatican canceled the papal public on Tuesday throughout the weekend and delegated others to cover Pope Francis while the 88 -year -old Pope remained hospitalized with a respiratory infection with several components.

The cancellations have put a brake on the upcoming events of the great holy year of the Vatican, the celebration formerly quarter of Catholicism which aims to encourage the pilgrims to come in Rome to participate in special activities of the jubilee. Should attract some 30 million people to Rome, the holy year is full of special papal audiences and masses throughout 2025, some of which have now been called into question given Francis’ disease.

Friday, Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome in a “fair” situation after a work of a week of bronchitis. Monday, medical staff determined that he was suffering from an infection of polymicrobial respiratory tract, which means a mixture of viruses, bacteria and perhaps other organisms had colonized in his airways. The Vatican did not give any indication of the duration of hospitalization, saying that the processing of such a “complex clinical image” would require a “adequate” stay.

Francis again took a peaceful night, had breakfast and read the newspapers on Tuesday morning, said spokesperson for Vatican Matteo Bruni. A more detailed medical update was expected later.

On Monday, Francis started doing work again and did his daily call to a parish of Gaza City to check the Catholic community there.

This weekend of the holy year was dedicated to deacons, the ministry which is a necessary step for men who are preparing to become a priests. Francis had an independent audience on Saturday and ordered the deacons during a mass on Sunday. The Vatican announced Tuesday that his audience had been canceled and that the archbishop that organizes the jubilee would celebrate mass. It is a similar arrangement that the Vatican announced last weekend when the artists of the city had to settle for a cardinal presiding over their special mass.

The next jubilee events on the calendar that would generally involve the Pope are weekends from March 8 to 9 dedicated to volunteers.

Francis had a part of a lung eliminated after a pulmonary infection as a young man and is subject to episodes of bronchitis in winter. He admitted in the past that he was a non -compliant patient, and even his close collaborators of the Vatican had said that he had pushed himself too far even once his bronchitis had been diagnosed.

He refused to release his busy schedule and ignored medical advice to stay inside during the cold winter of Rome, insisting to sit through a mass of the outdoor jubilee for the armed forces on February 9 If he had trouble breathing.

Admission to Francis Hospital This year has already sidelined it for more than a hospitalization in 2023 for pneumonia.

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Originally published: February 18, 2025 at 5:25 a.m. PST