ROME (CNN) Pope Francis has acknowledged the many well wishes the 86-year-old has received while he is being treated at a hospital in Rome for a respiratory infection.
In his first tweet acknowledging his illness, Francis said: “I am touched by the many messages I have received in these hours and I express my gratitude for the closeness and prayer.”
The Pope’s health is “gradually improving” and he is working from the hospital, the Vatican said on Thursday. “His Holiness Pope Francis had a good rest during the night. The clinical picture is progressively improving and the planned treatments are being continued. This morning after breakfast he read some newspapers and went back to work,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.
“Before lunch he went to the small chapel of the private apartment, where he gathered for prayer and received the Eucharist.”
After his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, the pope was taken to the hospital to undergo a series of tests. The Vatican had said earlier in the day that the visit and testing was planned.
“The Holy Father has been in Gemelli since this afternoon for some previously scheduled tests,” Bruni had said.
Shortly after, he said that Francis’ schedule for Thursday had been erased “to make room for testing to continue, should the need arise”.
Vatican sources told CNN on Thursday that Pope Francis “slept well” on his first night in hospital.
The Church of Rome also “expressed all of its closeness and affection for its bishop, Pope Francis, and assures of their unceasing prayers and wishes for a speedy recovery,” it said in a statement Thursday.
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Wednesday, pictured March 30, 2023, where he is undergoing treatment for a respiratory infection.
Bishops in churches across Italy are praying for Francis’ speedy recovery, the presidency of the Italian Bishops’ Conference said on behalf of the Italian bishops in a statement Wednesday.
“Wishing the Holy Father a speedy recovery, the Presidency entrusts to the Lord the doctors and medical staff who will take care of him and all the patients with professionalism and dedication,” she added.
The Pope, who suffered from severe pneumonia as a young man and had part of a lung removed, has recently had medical problems.
He has often been seen using a cane and sometimes uses a wheelchair due to pain in his right knee. Last year he canceled a trip to the DRC and South Sudan after doctors said he might also have to miss a later trip to Canada if he doesn’t agree to 20 more days of therapy and rest for his knee. Finally, in February, he went to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.
Francis also suffers from diverticulitis, a common condition that can cause inflammation or infection of the colon. In 2021, he underwent surgery to remove part of his colon.
In December, Francis revealed he had already signed his resignation letter to use in case he becomes “disabled”. Pope Francis spoke in an interview with Spanish news agency ABC when asked what would happen if a pope were suddenly unable to perform his duties due to health problems or an accident.
Francis said he wrote the letter several years ago and delivered it to then-Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who resigned in 2013.
“I have already signed my waiver. The foreign minister at the time was Tarcisio Bertone. I signed and said, ‘If I should be compromised for medical reasons or whatever, here’s my waiver,'” Francis was quoted as saying. He added that this is the first time he has spoken publicly about the existence of the letter.
Francis said the previous Popes Paul VI. and Pius XII. would also have written their waivers in the event of permanent impairment.
In 2013, Francis’ immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, made the almost unprecedented decision to resign from office. He cited “advanced age” as the reason and shocked the Catholic world.
It was the first time in almost 600 years that a pope had resigned. The last pope to resign before his death was Gregory XII, who resigned in 1415 to end a civil war within the church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.