Pope Francis was in the hospital for bronchitis
Francis, 86, left the Gemelli Polyclinic after he had been admitted with antibiotics on his first day at Gemelli. A conversation with a mother of Angelica
Francis, 86, was hospitalized on Wednesday at Gemelli Polyclinic after reportedly having breathing difficulties following his weekly public audience. The pope was treated with antibiotics.
Francis met with a Rome couple who had lost a child in the hospital. Serena Subania, mother of Angelica, sobbed as she pressed her head into the chest of the pope, who put a hand on the woman’s head.
Francis wanted to chat with well-wishers. The pope gestured as if he was going to ask the boy if he had a pen. A papal aide handed Francis one, and the pope autographed the cast.
When reporters pressed the Pontiff to confirm that he felt chest pain, he answered in a whisper, saying he had been taken to the hospital by his medical staff.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/01/1167584982/pope-francis-leaves-hospital
Vatican City, Vatican (AP) – A pope mobile to St. Peters Square, Rome, in a bronchitis clinic
The car that drove Francis away from Gemelli Polyclinic was white and had a driver in it. The AP photographer was positioned outside of the walled city-state when the motorcade sped past Vatican City.
The pope was apparently headed to a Rome basilica that is a favorite of his. After being discharged from the same hospital in July 2021, Francis offered prayers of thanksgiving at the St. Mary Major Basilica, which is located in Rome.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Bundled in a long, white coat and battling a hoarse voice, Pope Francis presided over Mass in St. Peter’s Square before tens of thousands of faithful on Palm Sunday, a day after he left a Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis.
The sun broke through the clouds during the Mass, which is one of the longest services on the Church’s calendar, as Francis sat in a chair under a canopy in the square.
He took his place there after standing and clutching a braided palm branch in a popemobile that drove at the tail end of a long, solemn procession of cardinals, other prelates and rank-and-file Catholics. Each person carried palm fronds or olive tree branches.
Francis received antibiotics in the form of IV drugs during his stay. He last conducted his regular Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square. He was feeling unwell and was taken to Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic.
His voice sounded strong as he opened the Mass, but quickly turned strained. Francis read a 15-minute homily with a hoarse voice, but made off-the- cuff comments for emphasis or gestured with a hand.
The homily focused on moments when people feel “extreme pain, love that fails, or is rejected or betrayed.” Francis cited children who are rejected or aborted as well as forms of social exclusion, injustice and oppression.
Francis spoke about a homeless German man who died alone and abandoned in St. Peter’s Square, where homeless people often sleep.
