Pope Francis, 86, admitted on Wednesday for a respiratory infection, spent “a good night” at the Gemelli hospital in Rome, a Vatican source said Thursday.

Future appointments with the head of the Catholic Church were cancelled, and the Vatican indicated Wednesday that Francis would remain hospitalized for “several days” to receive treatment for the respiratory infection.

“In recent days, Pope Francis has lamented some respiratory difficulties and this afternoon [yesterday] he went to the Gemelli Polyclinic to carry out some medical check-ups. Their success has revealed a respiratory infection – excluding Covid 19 infection – which will require a few days of timely hospital medical therapy,” a statement from the Holy See indicated. “Pope Francis is moved by the many messages received and expresses his own gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” the text added.

The Supreme Pontiff had participated in the morning in the general audience in Saint Peter’s Square. There he was seen smiling as he greeted the faithful from the “popemobile” and, after the audience, sitting in his chair, he shook hands with several religious. However, according to AFP photographers present at the scene, he moved with difficulty and appeared to be in severe pain. In fact, the image of Francisco grimacing in pain when he was helped to get up from his wheelchair was the one that went around the world.

After the hearing, the Pontiff was transferred by ambulance to the Gemelli Polyclinic, where he had already been treated on other occasions. “He had to undergo medical check-ups on the day because in recent days he had been complaining of respiratory difficulties ,” the director of the Holy See press office, Matteo Bruni, explained in a note.

The newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that the Pope canceled the audiences scheduled for the next few days and specified that he had to cancel a television interview he had scheduled with the Italian journalist Lorena Bianchetti, from a RAI religious program.

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