Advertisement

Pope Francis Spends Peaceful Second Night at Hospital, Prays for Peace at Angelus

Left: Banners at Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital. Right: Pope Francis waves from a wheelchair, Feb. 13, 2025.

Pope Francis spent a peaceful second night at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he remains under medical care for a respiratory infection, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists Sunday.

Bruni said the 88-year-old pontiff had breakfast and read several newspapers Sunday morning while continuing his prescribed medical treatments.

Though doctors ordered complete rest, the Holy Father prepared a special Angelus message focusing on art’s power to unite humanity and included prayers for regions torn by conflict.

“I would have liked to be among you,” Pope Francis wrote in his message, referring to artists gathered at the Vatican for a special jubilee celebration, “but as you know, I am here at the Gemelli Polyclinic because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis.”

The pope’s message highlighted the Eucharistic celebration for the Jubilee of Artists on Sunday, part of the wider 2025 Jubilee of Hope. He thanked the Dicastery for Culture and Education for organizing the gathering, emphasizing art’s role as a “universal language that spreads beauty and unites peoples.”

Advertisement

Turning to global concerns, the pontiff called for continued prayers for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and all the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu, and Sudan.

The pope also expressed gratitude to the medical staff at Gemelli Hospital. “They perform invaluable and demanding work; let us support them in prayer,” he wrote.

The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized in the late morning on Feb. 14 following meetings with a number of people, including the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.

Due to the hospitalization, the pope will not attend a planned meeting with artists at the historic Cinecittà film studios south of Rome on Feb. 17.

AC Wimmer is the News Editor for Europe and Asia at EWTN News. The multilingual Australian, raised in Bavaria and South Africa, served as editor-in-chief of several news media outlets. A graduate in Philosophy and Chinese Studies from the University of Melbourne, the veteran journalist is a former Honorary Research Fellow in Communications at his alma mater and served on the Board of Caritas in Munich.