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The Vatican says Pope Francis is improving and could leave the hospital in the coming days

The 86-year-old pontiff had been diagnosed with bronchitis.

A statue of late Pope St. John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis is recovering from a lung infection.
A statue of late Pope St. John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis is recovering from a lung infection.Read moreAndrew Medichini / AP
    by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press
    Updated 
    Published 

ROME — Pope Francis showed a “marked improvement” Thursday after being given intravenous antibiotics for a bronchitis infection and could be released from the hospital in the coming days, the Vatican and his doctors reported.

The pontiff, 86, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, ate breakfast, read newspapers, rested, and worked from his hospital room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

A later update from doctors revealed that Francis had been diagnosed with bronchitis. The infection “required the administration of antibiotic therapy on an infusion basis which produced the expected effects with a marked improvement in his state of health,” the doctors’ statement said.

“Based on the expected course, the Holy Father could be discharged in the coming days,” it concluded.

The time frame brought into question Francis’ participation in Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square this weekend, as well as his presence during Holy Week activities. They include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil, and Easter Sunday, April 9.

» READ MORE: Pope Francis will be hospitalized for several days to treat a lung infection

Francis was hospitalized Wednesday after having trouble breathing in recent days. In July 2021, Francis underwent surgery at Gemelli to remove about 13 inches of his colon, spending 10 days there.