Pope Francis cancels Thursday events and is likely to remain in hospital

• Pope Francis has been at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome since this afternoon
• You have diverticulitis, a condition that can inflame or infect the colon.
• The pope’s health concerns come amid a busy period with Easter services planned

Pope Francis has canceled his events on Thursday and is likely to remain in hospital overnight after what were initially described as “scheduled checks”.

The 86-year-old Pope suffers from diverticulitis, a condition that can infect or inflame the colon, and underwent surgery in 2021 to remove part of his colon.

Today, he participated in the weekly general audience and appeared to be in good health.

However, a Vatican source has since revealed that the pope’s appointments will not take place tomorrow after he is admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.

“The Pope’s schedule has been cleared for the possibility of further testing,” the source told AFP.

It comes just hours after his spokesman Matteo Bruni initially said the pope had gone to hospital for a previously scheduled check-up.

The pontiff was kept in the hospital during what is one of his busiest periods of the year, with Easter events planned for this week and next. He too was scheduled to visit Hungary at the end of April.

The pope has sparked a debate about his future in office after a series of comments seemed to indicate that he might be thinking of resigning at some point.

Earlier this year, Pope Francis said the condition had returned and was making him fat, but he wasn’t too worried. He did not elaborate.

He also has a knee problem and alternates between using a cane and a wheelchair in his public appearances.

Francis told Reuters in an interview last year that he preferred not to have knee surgery because he did not want a repeat of the long-term negative side effects of anesthesia he suffered after the 2021 operation.

The pope said earlier this month that he could resign if he gets too tired to continue in office.

When asked by the Italian media what would lead him to resign, The Pope warned of “a fatigue that makes you not see things clearly… A lack of clarity when it comes to knowing how to assess situations.”

He said he was “a bit embarrassed” to use a wheelchair due to a knee injury.

“I’m old,” he told RSI. “I have less physical resistance, the knee (problem) was a physical humiliation, although now the recovery is going well.”

Last month, the Pope said that papal resignations should occur in exceptional circumstances and said that resigning was not ‘in (your) schedule‘.

Pope Francis has been the head of the Catholic Church since March 2013 and recently marked a decade of his papacy.

In January, the Pope also speculation fueled he may one day soon resign from office as he delivered a sermon on ‘the virtue of stepping aside at the right time’ and ‘learning to say goodbye’.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio would be the second to resign in just over six centuries if he resigned.

Only five potatoes have ‘verifiably‘ resigned from office through history, with others disputed.

The most recent was Benedict XVI, who resigned in 2013 and saying he was motivated by the deterioration of his health due to old age.

In general, contemporary popes are expected to hold office until their death.