Rome, 14 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) – Pope Francis has been admitted to hospital after a case of bronchitis persisted for more than a week, a Vatican spokesman said on Friday. The cause of the bronchitis was not disclosed.

The 88-year-old pontiff was taken to Rome's Gemelli hospital "for the necessary diagnostic examinations" after conducting audiences in the morning, the spokesman said.

Francis has repeatedly had to change his program on health grounds. He suffers respiratory problems in winter in particular.

The Argentine pope, who succeeded Benedict XVI in 2013, is the second-oldest pope in history.

Only Pope Leo XIII was older while in office, dying at the age of 93 in 1903. While Benedict lived to be 95, he retired from the papacy nine years before his death.