Gemelli hospital: The power treating Pope Francis

Reuters A nun looks up at a statue of late Pope Jon Paul II outside Gemelli Hospital in Rome — A statue of late Pope John Paul II stands exterior the Gemelli Hospital the place Pope Francis is receiving medical remedy

Outdoors the Gemelli Hospital in Rome stands a big statue of one among its most well-known sufferers, Pope John Paul II.

Manufactured from white Carrara marble, it depicts the pontiff in his later years, stooping and clutching a crucifix, his forehead furrowed in ache.

Medical doctors on the Gemelli hospital helped save John Paul’s life, after he was shot in a failed assassination try in St Peter’s Sq. in Could 1981. He underwent a six-hour operation to take away a bullet from his stomach.

It was the primary time a Pope had been handled at Rome’s largest hospital.

Among the many hospital’s present sufferers is Pope Francis, who was admitted final week with a respiratory an infection. He has been identified with pneumonia in each lungs.

The late Pope John Paul II, pictured throughout a go to to Eire, was admitted round 10 occasions to the Gemelli Hospital

Late Pope John Paul II waving to people during a visit to Ireland in 1979 — The late Pope John Paul II, pictured throughout a go to to Eire, was admitted round 10 occasions to the Gemelli Hospital

Over the course of his 25 year-long preach, John Paul was admitted round 10 occasions, typically for extended stays. He acquired remedy for numerous diseases, together with a benign intestinal tumour, a damaged hip and a tracheotomy, when his Parkinson’s illness was at a sophisticated stage.

The Gemelli, which is a Catholic educating hospital, opened within the Nineteen Sixties. With greater than 1500 beds, it is without doubt one of the greatest non-public hospitals in Europe.

Constructed on land donated by Pope Pius XI to the theologian and doctor Agostino Gemelli in 1934, it has change into referred to as the “Pope’s Hospital.” John Paul II even nicknamed it “Vatican Three,” with St Peter’s Sq. being Vatican One, and the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, Vatican Two.

Within the Nineteen Eighties, the Gemelli arrange a particular Papal suite, which remains to be in use at the moment.

The late Pope John Paul II within the Gemelli hospital

Getty Images Late Pope John Paul II delivers his blessing from the window of the Gemelli hospital in Rome — The late Pope John Paul II within the Gemelli hospital

It is a small condo on the tenth ground, an all-white suite with austere, easy furnishings. In addition to the bed room and toilet, there’s a front room, with a settee mattress for his aides and a chapel with a kneeler and a big crucifix, the place the Pope can attend or have fun mass and say prayers.

The lengthy entry hall, resulting in the suite is guarded by Italian State Police, the Vatican Gendarmerie and hospital safety.

The Papal suite is reserved for popes, however different sufferers are handled on the identical ground.

There is a balcony the place the Pope can seem to greet the devoted and say the weekly Angelus prayer.

Nicely-wishers usually collect within the sq. exterior the hospital to hope for the well being of the pontiff. Flowers, playing cards, photographs and candles are sometimes laid on the foot of the statue of John Paul II.

Pope Francis arriving for the weekly normal viewers on the Vatican

Reuters Pope Francis has been treated at the Gemelli several times — Pope Francis arriving for the weekly normal viewers on the Vatican

In line with official bulletins, Pope Benedict XVI was by no means admitted to the hospital throughout his 8-year papacy, though he visited when his brother acquired remedy there in 2014.

Pope Francis has been handled on the Gemelli a number of occasions. In 2013, he had an operation on his colon. He was handled for infectious bronchitis in March 2023, and had surgical procedure for an intestinal hernia later that 12 months.

He has usually been seen thanking his medical group and different hospital employees. On the finish of 1 keep, he baptised a new child child, and shared a pizza dinner along with his medical doctors, nurses, assistants and Vatican safety personnel.