VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis had to again abandon his speech today, as he cited difficulties with his “bronchitis” while attempting to address the weekly General Audience.
“Now, permit me to ask a priest [aided] to continue the reading because I, with my bronchitis, still cannot,” said Francis, after announcing the theme of today’s General Audience catechesis. “I hope the next time, I will be able to.”
Pope Francis abandoned reading his catechesis again, at today’s General Audience, citing his bronchitis which he has now had for some time.@LifeSite background: https://t.co/hqcCYRv7cN https://t.co/2bd7sSKLCz pic.twitter.com/bKWwHWACRt
— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) February 12, 2025
Last Wednesday, Francis did likewise, though at the time he described his symptoms as a “strong cold.” The Vatican later stated on Thursday last that Francis had bronchitis, and consequently would be holding his daily meetings in his house of residence, the Casa Santa Martha, rather than the Apostolic Palace.
Then on Sunday, Francis had to abandon reading his homily after a few minutes, handing it over to his Master of Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Ravelli, who continued to read the remainder of the text.
The 88-year-old Francis has had a number of occasions this winter when he has been unable to read his prepared texts, and thus had an assistant read them instead. Though he often develops a winter cold, his breathing issues over the past three months have been much more notable and persistent than in previous winters.
While in his early twenties, Francis underwent surgery to remove a large part of one lung as a result of the illness, and as a result has demonstrated increased susceptibility to colds or ailments affecting his breathing.
The Pope’s mobility has also been noticeably much more limited in recent weeks. While he has had to use a wheelchair and a cane for some years, his inability to walk freely without assistance has been especially highlighted this winter. His features have displayed signs of significant bloating also, an aspect carefully hidden by the camera-operators during his live-streamed events.
Francis has also had two publicly acknowledged falls. At the December 7 consistory to create cardinals, Francis appeared with a very visible bruise on his chin. The mark was explained by the press office as being due to a minor fall that the Pope had on the previous morning, when he hit his chin on his bedside table.
Then, in mid-January, the Pope had another fall which this time led to his using a sling on his right arm for a few days.
While making his way into the general audience on a subsequent occasion, Francis’ walking cane broke and he nearly fell to the ground, but was swiftly assisted by his aides from the Papal Household.
Approaching his 12th anniversary of ascending to the Papal throne, Francis’ health has become an increasingly prominent issue, and though he underwent brief “diagnostic tests” in February 2024, he has not officially visited hospital for an operation since summer 2023.
That year he had two significant hospitalizations, the first of which was described as “scheduled” but which Francis later described as being an emergency, having arrived at the hospital “unconscious.”
In June 2023 he underwent “incarcerated incisional hernia,” which the Holy See Press Office described as a necessary procedure, but not an emergency.
Two years prior, the Pope also had a 10-day stay in hospital, after he had to undergo a six-hour surgery at the Gemelli to have part of his colon removed due to diverticulitis.