Pope Francis speaks at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on March 29, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Mar 29, 2023 / 13:24 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis will be hospitalized for “some days” after being diagnosed with a respiratory infection, the Vatican said Wednesday.
“In recent days Pope Francis has complained of some difficulty breathing and this afternoon went to [Gemelli Hospital] to carry out some medical tests. The results of these tests showed a respiratory infection (a COVID-19 infection was excluded) that will require some days of opportune medical treatment in the hospital,” Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said Wednesday evening.
“Pope Francis is touched by the many messages he received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer,” Bruni added.
Bruni had issued a brief statement earlier in the afternoon of March 29 to say the pope was at Gemelli Hospital “for some previously scheduled checkups.”
Gemelli is the same hospital where Pope Francis was hospitalized in July 2021 when he underwent surgery on his colon for diverticulitis, or inflammation of the intestinal wall.
In an interview with the Associated Press in January, Pope Francis disclosed that the diverticulitis had “returned.” At the time, the 86-year-old pontiff — who traveled to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in late January — insisted he was in relatively good condition.
The pope has also suffered since last year from a problem with his right knee, making it necessary for him to rely on a cane and a wheelchair to move around. But Francis told the AP that a fracture had healed without surgery after laser and magnet therapy.
As of Wednesday evening, the pope’s agenda for Thursday and Friday lists two meetings, one with teachers and students from the schools of the Oblate Sisters of the Child Jesus on Thursday, and the fifth Lenten sermon with the Roman Curia on Friday.
This is a developing story.
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Vatican City, Mar 27, 2019 / 05:54 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Francis will visit the capital cities of the African countries of Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius in September.
From Sept. 4-10, 2019, the pope will travel t… […]
Cardinal Gerhard Müller (center) and Father Joseph Hamilton (at left), personal secretary to the late Cardinal George Pell, were among the priests celebrating the Jan. 10, 2024, Mass held on the first anniversary of the cardinal’s death. / Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Rome Newsroom, Jan 10, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
A requiem Mass was held in Rome on Tuesday evening to mark the first anniversary of the death of Cardinal George Pell and to celebrate the cardinal’s illustrious ecclesiastical career.
The chapel of the Domus Australia was filled to capacity for the Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. In attendance were numerous cardinals and bishops, an array of priests from Rome, ambassadors to the Holy See, and faithful from Rome and abroad who came to pray for the beloved cardinal.
The chapel of the Domus Australia was filled to capacity for the Jan. 10, 2024, Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Father Joseph Hamilton, rector of the Domus Australia and Pell’s former secretary, noted in an exclusive interview with EWTN: “I think His Eminence was very loved here in the city of Rome. His witness was very much appreciated and his loss was very unexpected.”
“I think that a beautiful Mass to commemorate his life, to pray for the repose of his soul, and to ask for his intercession here in the chapel, which he renovated and which he loved, I’m hoping will bring consolation and some degree of closure for those who have been grieving for the cardinal over the last year,” Hamilton added in his interview.
Pell died at the age of 81 on Jan. 10, 2023, after suffering a cardiac arrest following a scheduled hip replacement days prior at Rome’s Salvator Mundi hospital. He previously served as archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne before Pope Francis appointed him to head the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the most senior Australian prelate.
Cardinal Raymond Burke was among those at the Mass on the first anniversary of Cardinal George Pell’s death Jan. 10, 2024. Credit: Elizabeth Alva
During his homily, Müller reflected on the long illustrious life of the departed cardinal, noting that Pell and Pope Benedict — who passed away less than two weeks before the cardinal — were “role models of the true faith.”
Müller reflected on his early life, noting that the cardinal showed great “athletic abilities” and “high intellectual talent,” which would have brought him “a brilliant career in the world.” But, Müller continued, Pell eschewed worldly goals and opted to “follow Christ’s call to the priestly service.”
Cardinal Gerhard Müller at the requiem Mass on Jan. 10, 2024, marking the first anniversary of Cardinal George Pell’s death. Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Pell was renowned for his quick wit and towering stature. Müller, reflecting on his personal relationship with the late cardinal, highlighted Pell’s commitment to “marriage and family in the spirit of Christ, teachings against relativization by secularist-minded participants in the Synod of this topic.”
Müller also touched upon the darkest chapter of Pell’s life, which stands as “a great testimony of Christian patience.”
Cardinal George Pell gives an interview to EWTN News in Rome, Italy, on Dec. 9, 2020. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Pell was convicted on Dec. 11, 2018, on five charges of sexual abuse while he served as archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s. After serving 404 days in solitary confinement, Australia’s high court unanimously overturned the convictions, based on reasonable doubt of the appellate proceedings, in April 2020.
“He was relentlessly pursued by a bloodthirsty mob and made himself a victim of justice by anti-Catholic agitators in the media and the police apparatus,” Müller remarked regarding the vilification of the late cardinal in mainstream media.
Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers of the Archdiocese of Sydney spoke with EWTN after the Mass, noting that the evening was an opportunity to mark “the anniversary of a man who was a lion in the Church. I think it’s giving due recognition to someone who’s been very important in the life of Australia, if not in fact the whole world.”
While recognizing that Pell was a “lightning rod for the Church,” Umbers explained that he was a man “of great strength and tremendous courage.”
Pell’s legacy is not just limited to his theological acumen or reforms of the Vatican’s handling of financial affairs, but it is most tangibly seen in the revitalization of the Church in Sydney.
“I think the impact of Cardinal Pell is very visible in Sydney,” Umbers said. “He was a big man with great vision, and the last 20 years in the Archdiocese of Sydney have seen real growth and leadership amongst a number of young Catholics.”
“You find an environment there which is quite extraordinary. A lot of life, especially in the area of university chaplaincy. He [Pell] invested heavily in that area and took great interest in the next generation of leaders,” Umbers added.
According to Father Hamilton, one of the hallmarks of Pell’s legacy will be his example of strength and unity for the Church as it is going through a period marked by division and is mired in crises.
“We are one Catholic Church, we have one faith, we have one pope, we’re one people. If we stand together, we’re strong. If we’re divided, we’re weak, and I think that his [Pell’s] witness to us and his legacy to the Church is that it is one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church that he was proud to serve and that he was proud, in a very humble way, to be a confessor of. I think that that leaves us an astonishing and shining example,” he said.
The southern border town of Qalaia, Lebanon. / Credit: Al-Qulaya Facebook page
ACI MENA, Oct 26, 2023 / 15:00 pm (CNA).
The scene of tension is not new to the villages of Lebanon’s southern border, especially the Christian ones. The towns that … […]
8 Comments
The article says:
Bruni had issued a brief statement earlier in the afternoon of March 29 to say the pope was at Gemelli Hospital “for some previously scheduled checkups.”
It is clear that the Vatican’s reflexive response to pretty much anything — even as innocuous an occurrence as the illness of the pope — is to lie.
He’s not Papa. Only a fundamentalist would use that term. Francis is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He’s a pretty bad one, truth be told, but that is his title nonetheless and he should be addressed as such.
Praying that the Lord will accompany Francis in his illness.
At the same time, I have to agree with brineyman above that I cannot trust that any communications from this Vatican will be truthful. What a shame when you just assume that prelates are lying.
Photo seems to indicate the Pontiff is physically unhealthy, i.e., morbidly obese. Other photos show the same.
Not good.
Also, on other breaking news, the public resignation of Fr. Zollner, and his letter of resignation repudiating the Pontiff’s sex abuse commission, is the SECOND PUBLIC RESIGNATION and REPUDIATION of the so-called sex abuse commission of Pontiff Francis, preceded by that of Marie Collins a few years sgo.
ZERO CREDIBILITY for “the-great-reform-pontificate-of-team-Ivereigh-Cupich-McElroy-Francis.”
The article says:
Bruni had issued a brief statement earlier in the afternoon of March 29 to say the pope was at Gemelli Hospital “for some previously scheduled checkups.”
It is clear that the Vatican’s reflexive response to pretty much anything — even as innocuous an occurrence as the illness of the pope — is to lie.
Praying for Pope Francis to the Holy Face of Jesus
Yes, prayers for Papa, especially for spiritual wellbeing.
He’s not Papa. Only a fundamentalist would use that term. Francis is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He’s a pretty bad one, truth be told, but that is his title nonetheless and he should be addressed as such.
Wishing the Holy Father good health. God bless.
Praying that the Lord will accompany Francis in his illness.
At the same time, I have to agree with brineyman above that I cannot trust that any communications from this Vatican will be truthful. What a shame when you just assume that prelates are lying.
All prayers and good intentions for his recovery.
Photo seems to indicate the Pontiff is physically unhealthy, i.e., morbidly obese. Other photos show the same.
Not good.
Also, on other breaking news, the public resignation of Fr. Zollner, and his letter of resignation repudiating the Pontiff’s sex abuse commission, is the SECOND PUBLIC RESIGNATION and REPUDIATION of the so-called sex abuse commission of Pontiff Francis, preceded by that of Marie Collins a few years sgo.
ZERO CREDIBILITY for “the-great-reform-pontificate-of-team-Ivereigh-Cupich-McElroy-Francis.”
Sciatica, diverticulitis, knee difficulties and now bronchial trouble. Prayers, and prayers for his spiritual wellbeing.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.