Francis, 88, held several meetings on Friday before being taken to hospital, including with Mark Thompson, the CEO of the CNN news channel, which later reported that the pontiff was “mentally alert but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties”.
The pontiff, who has been suffering from bronchitis, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Friday after reportedly having breathing difficulties during one of his meetings.
In 2023, he revealed he had chosen his burial place – the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the Esquilino neighbourhood of Rome – breaking with the longstanding tradition of popes being buried in the grottos beneath St Peter’s Basilica.
After being discharged, he said: “I am still alive.” He was readmitted to the Gemelli for health checks in June that year and again in February 2024 after suffering from what he said was “a bit of a cold”.
The Vatican said he would undertake “some necessary diagnostic tests and continue his treatment for bronchitis, which is still ongoing, in a hospital environment”.
