Pope Francis, 86, was hospitalized on Wednesday at the Gemelli hospital in Rome, where he will remain for "several days" due to a "respiratory infection."
It is not the first time it has happened. On July 4, 2021, after carrying out the Sunday Angelus normally in the Basilica of Saint Peter, the Pope was hospitalized and underwent surgery on a scheduled basis for colon stenosis.
He remained in the hospital for ten days, before continuing his convalescence in the Vatican. The nurse who convinced him to undergo colon surgery - although there were those who suggested limiting himself to antibiotic therapy - is called Massimiliano Strappetti, and he is the one who is now with him in the hospital. Francisco defined him as: "the man who saved my life." On Wednesday, the Pope reportedly began to feel pain in his chest immediately after the general audience in Saint Peter's Square, when he was already in the Santa Marta Residence. At that moment, Strapppetti himself advised him, out of prudence, to go to the hospital. But who is Massimiliano Strapetti? Friendly, passionate about his work, very reserved, many in the corridors of the Vatican immediately recognized him as the nurse so praised by the Pope. It was he who had appeared next to the Pontiff in the first public outing after the intervention, at the Angelus of the July 11, 2021, together with the "little friends" of Jorge Mario Bergoglio: the patients of the Geminis pediatric oncology ward. Fifty-four years old, loving father and husband, described by those who know him as generous and dedicated to others even outside of your job. A commitment to volunteering that ultimately leads him to take care of "most loved" by the Pope, those who are homeless. At the service of the Vatican Medical Guard, Strappetti came here after a professional career at the Gemelli hospital. For years he had worked in intensive care: a crucial and very delicate department in which the difference between life and death can lie in a simple carelessness or a lucky intuition. Later he was assigned to the Vatican and assisted by the popes Wotjyla and Ratzinger. Shy and discreet, on his Facebook profile Strapppetti only shares photos of family members and some symbols of Lazio, such as the Aquila or the former coach Petkovic. After this last intervention, the The Pontiff interrupted in response to speculation about his possible resignation by saying: "When a Pope is sick, a wind or a hurricane of Conclave rises."
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