Pope Francis appears to be on the mend. As the Vatican announced on Friday afternoon, he is expected to be released from the Gemelli Clinic in Rome on Saturday “when the results of the last tests are available this morning.” Like on Thursday, the pope read some newspapers in the morning and then went to work. The night before, there was also a pizza dinner in the clinic with doctors, nurses, assistants, and police officers.
According to information from the Vatican, the head of the church has been receiving treatment in the papal wing of the Romanian University Clinic since Wednesday afternoon. According to the medical staff, “infectious bronchitis” was diagnosed, which required “antibiotic infusion therapy.” This led to a huge improvement. “It went well yesterday, with a normal clinical course,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Friday.
The Vatican expects the pope to attend Mass on Palm Sunday. Bruni explained that “since he is due to leave the hospital tomorrow, Pope Francis is expected to attend the Eucharistic celebration of Palm Sunday (…) in St. Peter’s Square.” It has not been announced who will lead the service. (tmg/KNA)
