Pope Francis has visited a Rome hospital for tests after flu symptoms prompted him to cancel public engagements, the Vatican has said.
The Pope, 87, was driven from the Vatican to the Gemelli Hospital on Rome’s Tiber Island for a check-up before returning home. Medical sources told Reuters he had a CT scan during the visit.
Francis cancelled appointments on Saturday and Monday due to a bout of influenza, although he appeared on Sunday at the balcony overlooking St Peter’s Square to give his weekly Angelus blessing.
Attending his weekly general audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall on Wednesday morning, Francis said: “Dear brothers and sisters, I still have a bit of a cold,” and asked an assistant to read his catechesis for him.
After the audience he spent an hour chatting to pilgrims and blessing babies, and then soon after headed for the hospital. Francis had part of a lung removed when he was a young man due to a respiratory infection, and in 2021 had an operation to remove a section of his colon.
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A knee ailment has recently rendered walking difficult, and Francis arrived at the audience in a wheelchair.
In March he suffered from fever and was brought to hospital in Rome, where doctors successfully treated him for bronchitis with antibiotics, releasing him after three nights. In June he had surgery on an abdominal hernia, spending nine days in hospital, and in December an inflamed lung forced him to cancel a visit to the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai.
In July he said that he would need to ease up on official duties, stating: “At my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church.”
