Commentary by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

According to the report of InfoVaticana, above, in Spanish:

The rumor that has spread in recent hours finds new confirmation. The apartment where Pope Francis will be hospitalized in Santa Maria Maggiore is ready and equipped to welcome the pontiff upon his release from the Gemelli Hospital, with the necessary equipment to care for an elderly patient, 88 years old, in the extremely delicate clinical condition that everyone now knows is. Why set up the hospital apartment in Santa Maria Maggiore and not in Santa Marta, where the Pope resides? The Roman basilica is the designated location in case of his resignation. Unlike Benedict XVI, Pope Francis has already publicly stated that he does not intend to remain in the Vatican, as Ratzinger did, but to move permanently to Santa Maria Maggiore. Added to this is the fact that he has already identified, within the Roman Basilica, the place where he wants to be buried. He also gave precise instructions on how his funeral should be carried out.

While at the present, this is only a rumor, it is perfectly consistent with all the news reported so far, that Pope Francis’ lungs are permanently damaged and he will have to be on oxygen and breathing machines for the rest of his life (as Dr. Bassetti believes is highly likely). This implies the very precise conditions of debilitated health, for which he has several times in the past said would lead him to decide to abdicate, as the AP reported last month.

FromRome.Info will follow this story closely. If true, we can expect in a few days, when Pope Francis is released from Gemelli that the announcement of his renunciation of the Papacy be made.

For more information, this is what Pope Francis needs to do to renounce the Papacy validly.

UPDATES March 12: The denials in recent weeks that Pope Francis was having a room prepared for him at Santa Marta, on the south gate of Vatican City, seems to confirm that he will transfer from Gemelli to another location. It is certain that he will have to be on oxygen during the day and during the night, so these facts seem to corroborate the report above.

The Consistory of Cardinals, which Pope Francis convoked on Feb. 25, for an unspecified future date, also seems to give credibility to the above report, since the most proper way for a Pope to renounce is in the presence of the College of Cardinals fully assembled. So I expect that the announcement of a precise date for the Consistory, and its location at Santa Maria Maggiore, will be the imminent confirmations of the above report.

UPDATES: March 13: The Vatican News Bulletin on Pope Francis’ health, last evening, denied that it is certain that Pope Francis would go to Nicea, Turkey for the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicea, an event so important a Pope could not not attend. This seems to be further confirmation of his imminent resignation, not to mention that since a new pope will need weeks to prepare for this trip, Pope Francis’ resignation would have to be in March or early April to accommodate for that. — Meanwhile Bookies in the United Kingdom have put 75% odds on Pope Francis resigning in 2025.

One of our sources among the staff of Santa Maria Maggiore says that he also has heard the rumor that Pope Francis will transfer there after leaving Gemelli Hospital, but not from any authoritative source.