The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man, is a known workaholic who keeps up a grueling pace despite his increasingly precarious health which has seen him hospitalised on a number of occasions in recent years.
Pope Francis’ is battling a ‘complex and clinical’ medical condition that will require further hospital treatment, the Vatican said.
The Pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after suffering from a ‘polymicrobial respiratory tract infection’.
Spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests indicate the 88-year-old Pope will require extensive drug therapy and an ‘appropriate hospital stay’.
Francis was supposed to have gone to Rome’s Cinecitta film studios to meet with artists as part of the Catholic Church’s Holy Year celebrations.
