Pope Francis, who is due to return to the Vatican on Saturday after three days of bronchitis treatment, made a surprise Friday visit to the pediatric oncology department of the Rome hospital where he is being treated.
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In the afternoon, the 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit went to the department of the Gemelli Polyclinic and brought the children chocolate eggs, rosaries and books, the Vatican said.
During this surprise visit, which lasted about thirty minutes, François also baptized a few weeks old newborn baby named Miguel Angel. In video and photos released by the Vatican, we see the Pope smiling as he leans on a walker, writes on a piece of paper and sprinkles holy water on the newborn’s head.
Hours earlier, the Vatican had confirmed that the pope would leave the hospital on Saturday and indeed preside over Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, after two days of questioning about it. This ceremony marks the beginning of Holy Week before the celebrations of Easter, the most important highlight of the year for Catholics.
The 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit, whose health is “improving significantly” according to his doctors, has been in this Roman hospital since Wednesday, where he is being treated with antibiotics.
On Thursday evening, “Pope Francis dined and ate pizza in the company of those who surrounded him during these days of hospitalization: doctors, nurses, assistants and employees of the gendarmerie,” specified the director of the Press Service of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni.
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Francis, who suffers from chronic health problems and is confined to a wheelchair because of knee pain, lives in the private apartment reserved for popes on the 10th floor.
This small apartment was created in 1981 and, according to media reports, includes a bed, a television, a kitchen, a bathroom, an office and medical equipment, as well as a small chapel.
Finally, after mentioning “scheduled exams,” the Vatican spokesman Wednesday revealed that Francis was suffering from a “respiratory infection” and had been having trouble breathing for the past few days.
“No doubt he overdid it. But he’s a strong man and I think he’ll pull through,” Giuseppe, a 43-year-old tourist guide, told AFP in Place Saint-Pierre on Friday. “This is good news because (…) it is not possible for us to celebrate Easter without the Pope.”
This sudden hospitalization surprised the world, especially since on Wednesday, as every week, Jorge Bergoglio took part in the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, where he appeared smiling and greeted the faithful from his “popemobile”.
The Bishop of Rome had already been hospitalized for ten days in July 2021 for a serious colon operation in Gemelli Hospital. He admitted retaining “after-effects” of the anesthetic, leading him to rule out knee surgery so far.
The pain from this joint, which in particular forced him to cancel several appointments in 2022 and postpone a trip to Africa, is at the heart of speculation about his possible renunciation.
The head of the Catholic Church has always left this possibility open. His predecessor Benedict XVI. resigned in 2013, surprising the world.
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For his part, François blows hot and cold on this delicate subject.
After mentioning the possibility of “standing aside” in July, he had ruled in February that a pope’s “resignation” “should not become a fashion” and ensured that the hypothesis “is not on his agenda for the time being”. stand. .
Both in the Vatican and on his trips abroad, the Pope is under constant surveillance by a team of caretakers.
A precautionary measure that is all the more necessary as he has a serious medical history behind him: at the age of 21 he almost died of pleurisy and suffered the partial removal of a lung.