Pope Francis’s health is “gradually improving” and he may be discharged in the next few days, the Vatican said.
(Bloomberg) — Pope Francis’s health is “gradually improving” and he may be discharged in the next few days, the Vatican said.
The 86-year-old pontiff was hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Wednesday with a pulmonary infection after having difficulty breathing. He is being treated for viral bronchitis with antibiotics and his conditions have “markedly improved,” medical staff said on Thursday, according to a Vatican statement.
Francis received planned therapy on Thursday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said earlier, then read newspapers and resumed work and prayer. The pope had part of one lung removed in his youth due to an infection.
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Francis has been the spiritual leader of the world’s roughly 1.3 billion Catholics since his predecessor’s abdication in 2013. He is the first pope from the Americas, the first non-European to hold the post since Gregory III in the 8th century and the first Jesuit to hold the position.
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