Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a case of bronchitis worsened; doctors later diagnosed a complex respiratory infection, involving bacteria, virus and other organisms and the onset of pneumonia in both lungs on top of asthmatic bronchitis. They prescribed “absolute rest.”

Rome's Gemelli University Hospital, located just five kilometres from the Vatican, has long been the preferred medical facility for popes. Situated on Monte Mario in the western part of the Italian capital,