Pope Francis has pneumonia in both lungs, and his condition is described as “complex” by the Vatican.
The 88-year-old has had a respiratory infection for over a week and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday.
“The follow-up chest CT scan which the Holy Father underwent this afternoon… demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy,” according to the papal office.
It stated that lab tests, a chest X-ray, and the Pope’s clinical condition “continue to present a complex picture”.
Despite this, the Vatican stated that the pontiff was in “good spirits” and spent the day “reading, resting, and praying”.
Pope Francis also thanked supporters and asked them to “pray for him”.
The Pope had bronchitis symptoms for several days before being admitted last week, and he had delegated the reading of prepared speeches at events to officials.
He had been scheduled to lead several events over the weekend for the 2025 Catholic Holy Year, which runs through next January, but all public events on the Pope’s calendar have been cancelled through Sunday.
On Monday, the Vatican announced that doctors had changed the Pope’s drug therapy for the second time during his hospital stay to address what was thought to be a “polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract”.
The Pope is particularly vulnerable to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as an adult and had a portion of one of his lungs removed at the age of 21.
During his 12 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Argentine has been hospitalised several times, including in March 2023, when he spent three nights in the hospital with bronchitis.
