After the papal audience Wednesday, Pope Francis who had flu recently has been taken in by a Roman hospital, Gemelli Hospital for testing.
Afterwards, he left the Tiber Island, where the hospital is situated in white Fiat Car 500, with an escort.
The 86-year-old looked drained in a wheelchair as he was helped to get into his seat at the vatican hall earlier in the morning.
Over the last few weeks, he had been walking by himself to his seat with little or no symptoms of flu.
As a result, the Pope Francis cancelled his appointments on Monday and Saturday. However, he didn’t miss the Sunday audience, as he delivered prayers from the Vatican window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Pope Francis showed flu symptoms as he coughed continuously during the Ash Wednesday services last week. He decided not to take part in the procession that initiated the church’s Lenten season.
Recall he suffered this same flu during the pandemic in 2020. Similarly, he cancelled a lot of appointments and took days off, which make him miss the Vatican’s yearly spiritual gathering. That wouldn’t be the case this year, as the Vatican already replaced the gathering with personal spiritual exercises.
He is not new to respiratory infections as he had one of his lungs removed in the earlier years of his life. He had a chunk of his colon removed in 2021 as a result of the intestinal inflammation he suffered. He also suffered a strained knee ligament and a small knee fracture which is causing a lot of difficulties in his standing and walking.
At the end of Wednesday’s audience to end the 25th anniversary of the ratification of the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention, he briefly expressed his sympathy to his closeness to the many victims of the war.
In line with that, he begged for peace in the Middle-East and Ukraine. He also said a prayer for the victims in Burkina Faso and Haiti.
After the service, he blessed babies, did gifts exchange , talked and also greeted the faithful. All from his wheelchair.
