Vatican City:

The Vatican on Tuesday cancelled two of Pope Francis’s events at the weekend as the 88-year-old continues to receive hospital treatment for bronchitis.

The Holy See had already on Monday indicated that the pontiff, who was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday, would stay longer than initially believed due to a “complex” clinical picture.

“Due to the health conditions of the Holy Father, the Jubilee audience of Saturday February 22 is cancelled,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

It added that the pontiff has delegated a senior Vatican clergyman to celebrate a planned mass on Sunday morning.

The Vatican did not mention the Angelus prayer, which the pope normally delivers at midday on Sunday, but which he missed last weekend.

Francis, the head of the worldwide Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to hospital after struggling for several days to read his texts in public.

It is latest of a series of health issues for the Argentine Jesuit, who has undergone hernia and colon surgery since 2021, and uses a wheelchair for a sore knee.

In a statement on Monday, the Vatican said tests had confirmed “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment”.

“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation,” it said.

In an update later on Monday evening, it said his condition was unchanged.

“The Holy Father remains without a fever and is proceeding with the prescribed treatment,” it added.

He had on Monday morning “received the Eucharist and subsequently dedicated himself to some work and reading texts”, it said.

“Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness he continues to receive,” it added.

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