Pope Francis is suffering from a lung infection and remains in hospital with a “complex” clinical picture, the Vatican reported on Monday.

According to official information from the city state, Francis has “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has forced yet further modification of his therapy.” 

“The complex clinical picture will require an appropriate hospitalization,” the statement added.

Pope Francis has been hospitalized at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome since Friday. After several days of persistent respiratory discomfort, he was admitted to receive medical care.

The Vatican confirmed that doctors prescribed him bed rest and released a homily text Francis wrote for the Angelus, which was read by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça after the celebration of the Mass for the Jubilee of Culture. 

“I would like to greet all the artists who have participated: I would have liked to be with you, but as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Polyclinic because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis,” he wrote.

Francis also renewed his call for peace and invited everyone to “continue praying for peace in martyred Ukraine, in Palestine, in Israel and throughout the Middle East, in Myanmar, in Kivu and in Sudan.”

“Our first thought goes to Pope Francis. We pray for his health, we thank him for the vision and support he always offers us,” said Tolentino de Mendonça at the beginning of the jubilee celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The Pope also had to cancel a planned visit to the legendary Cinecitta film studios on Monday, one of the highlights of the Jubilee of Culture, which is bringing together more than 10,000 artists from a hundred countries in Rome.

With information by Ámbito