The Vatican has canceled Pope Francis’s weekend events as he spends a fifth day in hospital after contracting a respiratory infection. The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital last Friday for bronchitis, but the Holy See said on Monday that it was changing his treatment to deal with a ‘complex’ clinical picture. The Vatican has now announced that an audience on Saturday would be canceled, and the Pope delegated a planned mass on Sunday morning to another cleric. The Vatican did not however mention the Angelus prayer, which the pope normally delivers at noon on Sunday, but which he missed last weekend. However, briefing reporters at lunchtime on Tuesday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Argentine pontiff was continuing with elements of his usual routine. Francis ‘woke up and had breakfast and dedicated himself to reading some newspapers as he regularly does’, he said. Mr Bruni added that there would be a medical update in the early evening. Francis, head of the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to the hospital after struggling for several days to read his texts in public. Among the pilgrims and tourists gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Tuesday morning, many said they were praying for the pope’s recovery. ‘I hope that he’s getting better soon,’ Birgit Jungreuthmayer, a 48-year-old Austrian tourist, told AFP. ‘I trust in the medical treatment of the general practitioners of the hospital and I hope they will give their best.’ On Monday, the Vatican said tests had confirmed ‘a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment’. ‘All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation,’ it said. In an update on Monday evening, it said the pope’s condition was unchanged. ‘The Holy Father remains without a fever and is proceeding with the prescribed treatment,’ it said – without specifying what that was.The pontiff had done some work, the statement said. ‘Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness he continues to receive,’ it added. The post Vatican cancels Pope Francis’ weekend events as he spends a fifthdayinhospital appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.
