Pope showing ‘marked improvement,’ could leave hospital soon

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has shown a “marked improvement” 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 say. The 86-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, ate breakfast, read the newspapers, rested and worked from his hospital room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, according to a statement Thursday from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. An additional update by doctors revealed Francis had been diagnosed with bronchitis after he was admitted Wednesday. 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 statement said.