Italian Premier Meloni visits Pope Francis in hospital, says he's ‘alert and responsive’
Voice of America
Candles with the pictures of Pope Francis are seen outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 19, 2025, where the pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb. 14. FILE - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on Feb. 17, 2025. A group of children from a primary school pray for Pope Francis in front of the statue Pope John Paul II outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 19, 2025. Faithful pray for Pope Francis' health during a Mass in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 18, 2025.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis in the hospital Wednesday and reported he was "alert and responsive" and full of good humor, despite his diagnosis of pneumonia and a complicated bronchial infection that has sidelined the 88-year-old pontiff for six days.
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This photograph shows a damaged hospital following a Russian drone strike in Odesa on Feb. 19, 2025.
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President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One, Feb. 19, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, after returning from Florida.
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Candles with the pictures of Pope Francis are seen outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 19, 2025, where the pontiff has been hospitalized since Feb. 14. FILE - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives at The Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on Feb. 17, 2025. A group of children from a primary school pray for Pope Francis in front of the statue Pope John Paul II outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Feb. 19, 2025. Faithful pray for Pope Francis' health during a Mass in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Feb. 18, 2025.
A Chinese coast guard ship moves through seas within the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone on Jan. 13, 2025. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP) FILE - A Philippine navy helicopter takes off after a military exercise on Nov. 6, 2024, off Loaita island, locally called Kota island, in the disputed South China Sea, Philippines.
Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine Andriy Yermak meets with U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, in Kyiv, Feb. 19, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters) Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a press conference in Kyiv on Feb. 19, 2025.