Pope Francis, hospitalized for bronchitis, is in ‘fair’ condition, says Vatican

Pope Francis, who was admitted to a hospital in Rome for bronchitis, is in “fair” condition with a “respiratory tract infection,” the Vatican said Friday in what is the latest in a string of ailments that have raised concerns about the 88-year-old pontiff’s health.

Earlier on Friday, the Vatican said Pope Francis was admitted to Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome. He was there “for some necessary diagnostic tests and to continue in a hospital setting treatment for bronchitis that is still ongoing,” the Vatican said. They later confirmed he was in the facility, and that he had canceled his meetings for the next three days.

Francis has made a number of visits to the hospital in recent years, and received abdominal surgery in 2023. He has been struggling with bronchitis in recent weeks and has asked aides to read speeches and addresses.

But he held audiences at the Vatican on Friday morning before his hospitalization, including with the prime minister of Slovakia and with Mark Thompson, the Chief Executive of CNN. Christopher Lamb, CNN’s Vatican Correspondent, who saw Francis at the beginning of that meeting, said the pope was mentally alert but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties.

Pope Francis waves to people visiting St. Peter's Square in the Vatican in October 2022.

Francis, seen at left with his brother Oscar, was born on December 17, 1936. He was the eldest child of Mario and Regina Bergoglio, Italian immigrants in Argentina.

Francis as a young boy.

Francis with his parents in 1958.

Francis was ordained as a priest in 1969. In high school, he studied to become a chemical technician.

Francis poses for a photo during an Easter procession in 2000. A couple of years earlier he had become the archbishop of Buenos Aires.

In 2001, Francis was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

Francis greets parishioners in Buenos Aires.

The future pope washes a woman's feet at a maternity hospital in Buenos Aires in 2005.

Francis meets Pope Benedict XVI, the man he would eventually succeed, while on a trip to the Vatican in 2007.

Francis takes public transportation before celebrating Mass in Buenos Aires in 2008. As archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio took the bus to work and cooked his own meals.

Francis holds Mass outside a church in Buenos Aires in 2009.

Francis gives holy communion to Roberto Bendini, Argentina's former army chief, in 2009.

Francis waves to the crowd from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica after he was elected as the 266th pope on March 13, 2013. Benedict XVI had announced his retirement a month earlier, citing his "advanced age."

People watch the new Pope after he was introduced at the Vatican. In addition to being the first Latin American pope and the first from the Americas, Francis is also the first Jesuit pope. He's also the first non-European pope in more than 1,000 years.

A day after his election, the Pope pays his lodging bill at the Paulus VI, where he stayed during conclave.

The Pope answers reporters' questions while flying back from a trip to Brazil in July 2013. During the impromptu news conference, the Pope said that he would not "judge" gays and lesbians, including gay priests. "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" he said. Many saw the move as the opening of a more tolerant era in the Catholic Church.

In November 2013, the Pope dons a red nose with members of the Rainbow Association Marco Iagulli Onlus. The charity uses clown therapy in hospitals, nursing homes and orphanages.

Francis was named Time magazine's Person of the Year in 2013.

The Pope is presented with a gift by Argentine President Cristina Fernández during a private audience at the Vatican in March 2014.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip have an audience with the Pope during their one-day visit to Rome in April 2014.

Francis prays next to a rabbi at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City in May 2014. The Pope went on a three-day trip to the Holy Land, and he was accompanied by Jewish and Muslim leaders from his home country of Argentina.

The Pope signs a guestbook while meeting with bishops in Seoul, South Korea, in August 2014.

The Pope kisses a girl during a special audience at the Vatican in November 2014.

Francis blows out candles on a cake as he celebrated his 78th birthday in December 2014.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, right, greets Pope Francis at St. Peter's Basilica in February 2015.

Pope Francis prays on the floor of St. Peter's Basilica while observing Good Friday in April 2015.

People in Quito, Ecuador, gather near a huge video screen broadcasting the Pope's visit to the city in July 2015.

Francis shakes hands with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in September 2015. During his trip to Cuba, the Pope praised the reconciliations taking place between Cuba and the United States.

Francis addresses a joint session of the US Congress in September 2015. He challenged America to embrace millions of undocumented immigrants and join a global campaign against climate change and poverty.

The Pope walks with US President Barack Obama prior to an Oval Office meeting at the White House in September 2015. It was his first trip to the United States. During the trip, Francis also visited St. Matthew’s Cathedral and held a Mass on the grounds of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

The Pope waves to a crowd from the US Capitol in September 2015.

Pope Francis speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. During his speech, he urged world leaders to adopt concrete solutions to combat widespread poverty and environmental destruction.

The Pope celebrates Mass at New York's Madison Square Garden during his trip to the United States.

The Pope kisses a baby at the Vatican in October 2015.

Francis tries on a traditional sombrero he received as a gift from a Mexican journalist while on a flight to the country in February 2016.

Pope Francis waves to the crowd after celebrating Mass in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, in February 2016.

The Pope meets migrants at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos in April 2016. He received an emotional welcome during a visit in which he showed solidarity with migrants fleeing war and poverty.

Francis passes the main entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the former concentration camp in Poland, in July 2016. The Pope was there to pay tribute to those who died in the Holocaust.

The Pope releases a dove as a symbol of peace while in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September 2016.

Francis and a group of cardinals meet with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in a chapel at the Vatican in November 2016.

The Pope poses with members of the International Rural Catholic Association while at the Vatican in December 2016.

Francis and Pope Tawadros II, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, sign a joint declaration in Cairo in April 2017. Francis was on a two-day trip to Egypt to forge Muslim-Christian brotherhood and show solidarity with the country's persecuted Coptic Christian minority.

Francis stands with US President Donald Trump and his family during a private audience at the Vatican in May 2017. Joining the President are his wife, Melania, and his daughter Ivanka.

The Pope speaks to the crew aboard the International Space Station in October 2017. It was second papal phone call to space: Pope Benedict XVI rang the space station in 2011.

Francis leads the Way of the Cross torchlight procession in front of the Colosseum in Rome in March 2018.

The Pope is greeted by a group of nuns at the Vatican in August 2018.

Francis arrives with the "popemobile" in St. Peter's Square in October 2018.

Francis celebrates Mass as seven new saints were recognized in October 2018.

The Pope waves to people in St. Peter's Square in November 2018.

Pope Francis is framed by cell phones as he greets people at the Vatican in January 2019.

The Pope celebrates Mass in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in February 2019. It was the first time a pope has visited an Arab Gulf state, and it was the first time a pope had celebrated Mass in the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam.

Francis receives Russian President Vladimir Putin and his delegation in July 2019.

The Pope walks with cardinals during a Palm Sunday Mass in April 2019.

The Pope delivers a speech during a meeting of religious leaders at a university in Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2019. Thailand was the start of a seven-day Asia trip that also saw the Pope visit Japan.

The Pope walks out from Assumption Cathedral as young people reach out to touch him in Bangkok.

The Pope delivers his weekly blessing from the window of his private library in March 2020. St. Peter's Square is normally swarming with tens of thousands of visitors, but the Vatican was on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pope prays with priests in a Vatican courtyard in September 2020.

Francis, surrounded by the remains of destroyed churches, is driven in Mosul, Iraq, in March 2021. The Pope was in Iraq for four days. It was the first-ever papal visit to Iraq, and it was Francis' first trip outside Italy since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Pope celebrates Easter Mass in April 2021.

Francis shakes hands with a man dressed as Spider-Man while visiting with people at the Vatican in June 2021. The masked man, who works with sick children in hospitals, also gave a Spider-Man mask to the Pope.

The Pope holds Mass at the Vatican in September 2021.

US President Joe Biden gives the Pope a challenge coin during his trip to the Vatican in October 2021. Between them is Italian translator Elisabetta Savigni Ullmann. Challenge coins originated in the military, and this one included the insignia of a Delaware Army National Guard unit that Biden's son Beau served in. Biden said during his visit that coins are given to "warriors and leaders" and that the pope is "the most significant warrior for peace I've ever met." Biden, a devout lifelong Catholic, met with the Pope for 90 minutes and said he discussed "a lot of personal things" with the pontiff. It was the fourth meeting between Francis and Biden, but their first since Biden became President.

The Pope boards a flight to Malta in April 2022.

The Pope shows a flag that was brought to him from Bucha, Ukraine, during one of his general audiences at the Vatican in April 2022.

The Pope leads a prayer from his window at the Vatican in June 2022.

The Pope dons a headdress while visiting with Indigenous people in Maskwacis, Alberta, in July 2022. As he kicked off a weeklong "penitential pilgrimage" to Canada, Francis spoke of his "sorrow, indignation and shame" over the Catholic Church's role in the abuse of Canadian Indigenous children in residential schools. He apologized and promised a "serious investigation" into what happened.

The Pope speaks with Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa during their meeting in Awali, Bahrain, in November 2022.

Pope Francis touches the coffin of former Pope Benedict XVI in January 2023. Benedict's funeral was attended by tens of thousands at St. Peter's Square.

The Pope leaves Ndjili International Airport to attend a meeting in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in January 2023. Francis' visit to the DRC — the first papal visit since 1985 — was part of a six-day trip that also included South Sudan. In those two countries, Catholics comprise about half of the population and the Church is a key stakeholder in health and education systems as well as in democracy-building efforts.

Pope Francis consoles Serena Subania, whose 5-year-old daughter, Angelica, died the day before he left a hospital in Rome in April 2023. He was discharged after receiving treatment for bronchitis, the Vatican said.

The Pope leaves Palm Sunday Mass at St. Peter's Square in April 2023.

Pope Francis meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Vatican in May 2023. It was the first face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and the Pope since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The Pope has been outspoken in his support for an end to the war.

The Pope waves to people in St. Peter's Square in June 2023. He was on his way to a Rome hospital for abdominal surgery. The procedure was to repair a hernia that the Vatican said was causing "recurrent, painful and worsening" symptoms.

Pope Francis is welcomed by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa after landing in Lisbon, Portugal, to attend a World Youth Day gathering in August 2023.

Pope Francis greets a child during a welcoming ceremony in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in September 2023.

Pope Francis appears on a giant monitor set up in the Vatican's St. Peter's Square in December 2023. Francis led his customary Angelus prayer from his home rather than from the window of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace overlooking the square. He was suffering from what he described as "severe bronchitis," and he was avoiding being exposed to the cold weather.

The Pope drinks mate offered by Argentinian pilgrims who were visiting the Vatican in January 2024.

Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in February 2024. He was later taken to the hospital with flu symptoms.

Pope Francis takes part in a working session on artificial intelligence during the G7 summit near Bari, Italy, in June 2024. Francis, the first pope to participate in the summit, is determined to use the soft power of his office to try to ensure that the development of AI serves humanity and does not turn into a 21st-century Frankenstein's monster.

The Pope and Indonesian President Joko Widodo watch honor guards march past during a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, in September 2024.

Pope Francis greets people from a car in Dili, East Timor, in September 2024. The Pope received a rapturous welcome from the tiny Southeast Asian nation of East Timor, one of the world’s most Catholic countries, where almost half the population turned out for an open-air Mass. It was the penultimate stop of a marathon trip through Asia and the South Pacific.

The Pope presides over a Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican in December 2024.

The Pope blesses a baby during his weekly general audience at the Vatican in January 2025.

Pope Francis is joined by nuns at the Vatican in February 2025.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico meets with Pope Francis at the Vatican in February 2025. Later that day, the Pope was being treated in a hospital in Rome for bronchitis and to have medical examinations, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis, in pictures

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The latest diagnosis of bronchitis will cause particular worries for the Roman Catholic Church, because Francis has suffered from lung-related issues for much of his life. As a young man, the Argentinian leader suffered from severe pneumonia and had part of one lung removed.

Francis became pope in 2013, the first pontiff from South America. More recently he has been seen with a walking stick and sometimes uses a wheelchair. Last month, he suffered a fall and injured his arm.

Francis also suffers from diverticulitis, a common condition that can cause the inflammation or infection of the colon. In 2021, he had surgery to remove part of his colon.

Despite his medical issues Francis has kept up a busy calendar of events, including a 12-day visit of four countries in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. That trip was one of the longest any pope has embarked on and marked the furthest geographical distance (about 20,000 miles) that Francis has traveled since being chosen as the leader of the Catholic Church.

Last week, it was announced that the pope would meet King Charles III in April.

Christopher Lamb reported from the Vatican, and Antonia Mortensen reported from Rome. Rob Picheta wrote from London.