Pope Francis dies at 88
ROME (NEXSTAR) — Pope Francis has died at the age of 88.
The 88-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has long battled health problems, especially bouts of acute bronchitis in winter.
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Pope Francis smiles at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis greets a woman and her son as he leaves the Rebibbia prison after celebrating the Last Supper mass with inmates on Holy Thursday, in Rome, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis smiles from the central balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica prior to the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (To the city and to the world) blessing, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, on the occasion of Easter Monday, Monday, April 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis delivers a blessing during the weekly general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) -
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Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis waves faithful after celebrating Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) -
Pope Francis waves faithful from the central balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica prior to the the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (To the city and to the world) blessing, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) -
Pope Francis asperses holy water as he celebrates Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis celebrates Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis waves faithful after celebrating Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) -
People bring their offers to Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican during the Easter Sunday mass, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) -
Pope Francis celebrates Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) -
Pope Francis celebrates Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis smiles after celebrating Easter mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) -
Pope Francis waves faithfuls after presiding over the Easter vigil celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, March 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) -
Pope Francis smiles from the central balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica prior to the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (To the city and to the world) blessing, at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The Pope was hospitalized on Feb. 14 to treat a weeklong bout of bronchitis and undergo diagnostic tests. He had complained of breathing trouble and was diagnosed with bronchitis on Feb. 6 before being admitted to the hospital on Valentine’s Day after holding a handful of audiences in his chambers.
While hospitalized, he was also diagnosed with a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, pneumonia in both lungs and the early stages of kidney insufficiency.
The Vatican had announced on Feb. 24 the start of nighttime prayers for the health of the pope in St. Peter’s Square and invited Romans and others to join in.
Francis was hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was last admitted in June 2023 to have surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair a hernia in the abdominal wall. A few months before that, he spent three days in the hospital to receive intravenous antibiotics for a respiratory infection.
Francis spent 10 days at the same hospital in July 2021 following intestinal surgery for a bowel narrowing. He credited his personal nurse then with saving his life for having insisted he get the problem checked out.
It wasn’t the first time he credited a nurse with saving his life. Francis recounted his near-death experience with his youthful lung infection in his recent autobiography “Hope,” in which he credited his survival to a nurse, an Italian nun named Sister Cornelia Caraglio.
“She was an experienced, cultured woman who had worked as a teacher in Greece, and she quickly realized the seriousness of my situation: She called the specialist, who drained one and a half liters of fluid from my lungs. It began a slow and unsteady climb back from the brink between life and death,” he recalled.
It was she who, after the doctor prescribed a certain dose of penicillin and streptomycin, ordered that it be doubled, he recalled.
“She had intuition and practical experience, and certainly no lack of courage,” he recalled. “My companions came from the seminary to visit me; some also gave me their blood for transfusions. Gradually the fevers decided to leave me, and the light began to return.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
