On the tenth floor of the main building of the Catholic Gemelli Hospital, in the apartment reserved exclusively for the pontiffs and always ready just in case, the 85-year-old Pope Francis spent a
quiet night
, unidentified sources told the press.
The diagnosis is a
respiratory infection
and the treatment based on antibiotics will last a few days.
The doctors rule out heart problems and pneumonia.
It was also excluded that Francisco has been contaminated by
the Covid virus.
Holy Week without the Pope
In the Vatican, plan B for Holy Week is being prepared hastily, which provides for ceremonies
without the participation of the pontiff.
The Pope is on the 10th floor of the Roman clinic, reserved for popes.
Photo: EFE
Holy Week is
the most important period of the year for the Church
.
The master of liturgical ceremonies, Monsignor Diego Ravelli, has made immediate contact with the cardinals who could replace Francis if necessary.
An Argentine as a substitute
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri,
also an Argentine
, has been chosen to celebrate the Mass on Palm Sunday, April 2, in Saint Peter's Square.
Sandri is Prefect Emeritus of the Department for the Eastern Churches and Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals.
This year he will be 80 years old and will lose the status of cardinal elector in the Conclave that will elect the new pontiff.
Jorge Bergoglio presided over the usual Wednesday general audience on Wednesday.
Although he continued to speak until the end, blessing the faithful and even making the final tour of Saint Peter's Square in the Popemobile,
which he climbed with great effort,
during the audience he gave several
signs of suffering and difficulties.
emergency
hospitalization
After returning to his accommodation in the Casa de Santa Marta, the internal Vatican hotel where he is staying,
the Pope's conditions worsened.
From what is known,
he showed respiratory difficulties
and even chest pain, which alarmed the Vatican health workers who advised
his urgent transfer
to the Gemelli polyclinic, where he was taken in an ambulance.
A Vatican statement limited itself to informing that the Pope had attended the polyclinic of the Catholic University of Rome to have "checks already scheduled."
The Pope was taken directly
to the heart disease area
, where a tomography showed that
there was no alteration in his heart.
Other analyzes and tests led the doctors to the conclusion that what was detected was a respiratory infection, which immediately began to be treated with antibiotics.
The Pope had undergone lung surgery in our country when he was 23 years old.
He suffered from three cysts that forced
surgery on one of the lung lobes.
Bergoglio fully recovered.
Vatican correspondent
ap
