ROME, Italy (AFP) – Pope Francis was admitted to hospital on Friday for tests and treatment for bronchitis, the latest in a series of health problems for the 88-year-old pontiff.

Francis, who has been breathless in recent days and has delegated officials to read his speeches, held his morning meetings as planned before heading to Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the Vatican said.

He was hospitalised for “some necessary diagnostic tests and to continue treatment for ongoing bronchitis in a hospital setting”, it said.

A couple of hours later, it said two audiences due to be held by the pope on Saturday and Monday have been cancelled, while a cardinal will lead mass on Sunday in Francis’s place.

The Argentine pontiff, who took over as head of the Catholic Church in 2013, will be staying at the Gemelli in a suite used exclusively by popes, which has its own chapel.

The pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has been suffering with breathing difficulties for over a week, asking aides several times to read his speeches aloud on his behalf.

At his weekly general audience on Wednesday, Francis said he “cannot yet” read his own speeches, adding with a smile: “I hope that next time I can.”

He also held meetings at home on February 6 and 7 in an attempt to rest and recover.

On Friday morning, the Vatican confirmed he had audiences with five visitors including the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.

– Defying health woes – 

The Argentine pontiff has been plagued in recent years by health issues, although he continues to maintain a very busy schedule.

He pulled out of a Good Friday event in March last year after catching what the Vatican called a “light flu”, but went on to lead Easter services as planned.

A year earlier, in March 2023, Francis was admitted to hospital for three nights with bronchitis, which was cured with antibiotics.

Another bout of bronchitis caused him to cancel a December 2023 visit to Dubai to participate in the United Nations COP28 climate change conference.

The pope also underwent a hernia operation in June 2023, and in 2021 underwent surgery for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine.

He has been using a wheelchair since 2022 due to persistent knee pain and uses a cane during rare moments standing up.

Francis has also fallen a couple of times in the past few months, bruising his forearm in January and sporting a large bruise on his right jaw in December, caused by toppling from his bed.

Yet despite his health troubles, Francis rarely rests.

In September 2024, he completed a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, the longest of his papacy in terms of duration and distance.

He never takes holidays and keeps a busy schedule, sometimes with a dozen meetings in one morning.

Francis’s health issues regularly spark speculation over his future, particularly as his predecessor, Benedict XVI, quit over failing health in 2013.

While Francis has left open the option of resigning should he be unable to carry out his duties, he has said that for now he is going nowhere.

In a memoir published last year, Francis wrote that he did “not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning”.

Resignation is a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”, he wrote.