Pope stable in hospital and ‘asks for prayers’, Vatican says – as doctors treat ‘complex’ infection
The pope’s condition is “stable” and he is “touched by messages of affection”, the Vatican has said in an update amid his hospital stay.
Earlier on Monday, the Vatican said Pope Francis’ respiratory tract infection is presenting a “complex clinical picture” and he will need to remain in hospital. Concerns have been growing about the 88-year-old’s increasingly frail health.
Spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests conducted in recent days indicate the pontiff is suffering from a “polymicrobial respiratory tract infection” that needed a further change in his drug therapy.
Polymicrobial infections are caused by a mix of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites.
In a later update on Monday, the Vatican said his clinical conditions are stable and that he “read and worked” on Monday morning, adding “he’s touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness that he continues to receive in these hours”.
“In particular he intends to thank those who are currently hospitalised, for the affection and love that they express through the drawings and good wishes; he prays for them and asks that they pray for him.”
It was not specified earlier whether the pope was suffering from a bacterial or viral infection.
There was no length of time given for the pope’s hospitalisation, but the spokesman added the complexity of his symptoms “will require an appropriate hospital stay”.
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‘I hope he gets well’: People react to Pope Francis
The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital in a “fair” condition on Friday to be treated for a respiratory tract infection.
His doctors have advised complete rest. He was unable to deliver his regular weekly prayer on Sunday to pilgrims in St Peter’s Square or lead a special mass for artists to mark the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year.
On social media at the weekend, the pope wrote: “Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you accompany me in these days.”
The pope had been suffering from bronchitis for more than a week before he was taken to hospital.
He is said to have insisted on finishing his morning audiences on Friday before leaving the Vatican to be admitted to hospital.
The pope was finding it increasingly difficult to complete speeches and commitments last week because he was short of breath.
The pope is being treated at Rome’s Gemelli hospital. Pic: AP
‘Pope sounded a bit tired’
However, from his hospital bed at the weekend, the pope continued to make phone calls to members of a Catholic parish in Gaza, Italian broadcaster Mediaset reported.
A parish member said the pope had called on both Friday and Saturday and was in “good humour” but sounded “a bit tired”.
The pope’s next scheduled appointment is his weekly general audience on Wednesday.
He is then due to preside on Sunday at the ordination of deacons as part of a Holy Year weekend.
Both commitments remain on the official Vatican schedule, but appear to be in doubt.
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The pontiff is being treated at Rome’s largest hospital in a suite designed for popes.
The Argentinian pope had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man.
When he had a bad case of pneumonia in 2023, he left hospital after three days – he later said he had been admitted after feeling faint and having a sharp pain in his chest.
In the same year, Pope Francis spent nine days at the Gemelli hospital when he had surgery for an abdominal hernia.
Age making it harder for Pope to beat infections
As we age, our ability to fight off infections or ailments that wouldn’t have troubled us before gradually diminishes.
Pope Francis is 88 and unlike many people lucky enough to live that long, has a demanding job that likely leaves less time for the rest that our bodies, especially ageing ones, need.
The latest update from the Vatican suggests he isn’t gravely ill – able to sit up and eat breakfast – but that his doctors have concluded the bronchitis he is suffering will require a longer hospital stay.
Bronchitis – an inflammation of the main airways leading to the lungs – can be severe as it can narrow those pipes leading to difficulty breathing.
It’s only a real concern if the infection doesn’t respond well to treatment and spreads deeper into the lungs themselves causing pneumonia.
The Vatican has said the pope’s infection is “polymicrobial” meaning more than one type of microbe (bacteria, virus or fungal agent) has been identified.
That will mean adjusting the types of medication used to treat the infection, which in some cases can be tricky, especially if one of the bugs is resistant to common antimicrobial drugs – something that is increasingly common.
The pope is possibly more vulnerable to lung infections than a person of equivalent age as he had part of one lung removed following a severe infection when he was just 21.
He was previously hospitalised in 2023 with pneumonia and made a good recovery.
Beyond that, it’s unwise for anyone to pontificate on anyone’s personal health, least of all the pontiff’s.
World
‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high
At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.
The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.
Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.
Ten children were reportedly killed when Israel attacked near a clinic on Thursday. Pic: AP
The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.
Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.
Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.
“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.
The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.
It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.
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It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.
The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.
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Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
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In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.
A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.
The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.
The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.
It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.
Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.
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The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.
It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.
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GHF aid distribution linked to increased deaths
Gaza situation ‘apocalyptic’, says UN expert
After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”
The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.
Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.
Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.
The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.
“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.
“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”
Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.
Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.
Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.
“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.
The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.
Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.
It said three children and their mother were among the dead.
Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.
On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.
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Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.
A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.
People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.
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Lack of food and water ‘lethal’ for Gaza children
Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.
A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.
However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.
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More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.
Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.
Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.
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