The next reception of Pope Francis, as part of the anniversary year of Christianity being celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church, has been canceled due to the hospitalized pontiff’s illness. The press service of the Holy See noted that this is about the reception on Saturday.
And the Holy Mass scheduled for Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica, which Francis was supposed to celebrate, will be celebrated instead by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who is one of the organizers of the cultural program of the anniversary year.
The statement added that the current hospitalization of Pope Francis, 88, may be extended.
He has been in the hospital since February 14, where he is being treated for a respiratory infection. Based on the test results, doctors are talking about a “complex clinical picture” in the context of a polymicrobial infection.
The Corriere della Sera newspaper suggests that it could be a combination of streptococcal and staphylococcal infections, which complicates and extends the time of treatment. The newspaper added that the Pope tried to avoid hospitalization until the last minute, preferring home treatment, which, however, did not give results.
Observers believe that the papal sermon this Sunday will be canceled, as last Sunday, when he did not even appear at the hospital window.
The Vatican circles are talking about “discreet concern” for Pope Francis’s health and dismissing all assumptions that he is “on the verge of death,” as some periodicals write.