VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis followed Sunday (Feb 16) mass and his traditional Angelus weekly prayer on television in a Rome hospital where the 88-year-old pontiff is being treated for bronchitis.
The Argentine pope was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Friday for the latest respiratory infection, influenza or bronchitis, he has caught in recent winters.
The Vatican said Sunday that the pope was in a “stable” condition and his treatment would continue.
“This morning he received the Eucharist and followed the Holy Mass on television. In the afternoon he alternated reading with rest,” said the Vatican in a bulletin.
Doctors have prescribed “absolute rest” for the pope, who, unable to attend Sunday mass at St Peter’s Basilica, sent a written address to the artists and other cultural figures in attendance.
“I would have liked to be among you but, as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Hospital because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis,” Francis wrote.
Cardinal Jose Tolentino de Mendonca read the pope’s homily.
“We live in a time when new walls are being erected, when differences become a pretext for division rather than an opportunity for mutual enrichment,” the cardinal read. “But you, men and women of the world of culture, are called to build bridges.”
