Bob suffers from infectious bronchitis and is responding well to treatment

Today, Thursday, the medical team of Gemelli Hospital said that Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday in Rome, suffers from “infectious bronchitis” but is receiving antibiotic treatment that has allowed a “marked improvement” in his health.

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The 86-year-old Argentine pope is benefiting from “antibiotic treatment by infusion, which has produced the expected effects,” the medical staff said in a statement sent by the Vatican, adding that he may be released from hospital “in the coming months.” days”.

The pope devoted his time “to rest, prayer and certain tasks,” as the spokesman for the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, specified in the same press release.

At midday, the Vatican had already wanted to be reassured about the Pope’s health and confirmed that he had returned to work.

Jorge Bergoglio, who suffers from chronic health problems and uses a wheelchair due to knee pain, also gathered in the morning in a chapel in the private apartment reserved for the Popes on the tenth floor of the Gameli Hospital.

This reassuring news comes against a background of concerns after the contradictory information reported by the Vatican on Wednesday regarding the true health condition of the Pope, which made international headlines on Thursday.

After mentioning “scheduled examinations,” the Vatican spokesperson finally announced on Wednesday night that he was suffering from a “respiratory infection” unrelated to COVID-19. The Pope, who has been having difficulty breathing in recent days, should undergo treatment for “a few days”.

“I am moved by the many messages that have come in the last hours,” the pope said on Twitter, Thursday, from the messages of the bishops of several countries to the message of US President Joe Biden. “I express my gratitude to everyone for their closeness and prayers,” he wrote.

Now is the time to question the Pope’s participation in the celebrations of Holy Week and Easter, the most important events of the year in the Catholic world, which the Vatican has not spoken of.

“I hope he will recover very quickly and be able to celebrate Easter here in Saint-Pierre,” said Tina Montalbano, a 60-year-old Italian tour guide who gathered on Thursday in this square.

“The fear is still there, but everything seems to be fine for the time being,” she added.

This sudden hospitalization surprised the world, especially since on Wednesday morning, Jorge Bergoglio participated again every week in the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, where he appeared smiling, greeting the faithful of the “Papmobile”.

François had already been hospitalized for ten days at Gemelli Hospital in July 2021 for major colon surgery. He admitted he had retained “post-anaesthetic effects”, which has led him to rule out knee surgery just yet.

The pain caused by this joint, which notably forced him to cancel several appointments in 2022 and postpone a trip to Africa, is at the heart of speculation about his possible abandonment.

The head of the Catholic Church has long left the door open to this possibility. His predecessor Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, surprising the world.

François, for his part, excels at this sensitive topic.

Après avoir évoqué en juillet the possibilite of this “meetre of the coté”, it avait jugé en fevrier that the “demission” of a pape ne devait “pas devenir une agenda”, assurant that this hypothèse ne figurait “pas sur son pour the moment”.

The Pope is under constant surveillance by a team of caretakers, both in the Vatican and during his trips abroad.

A necessary precaution given he has a heavy medical history behind him: at age 21, he nearly died from pleurisy and suffered a partial lung resection.