The issues awaiting Francis’ return to the Vatican

The latest news from Gemelli remains positive and the Pope's health seems to be consistently improving since his last respiratory crises at the beginning of March. However, given the complexity of the 88-year-old pontiff's clinical picture (especially his age), his doctors remain cautious, and no date for his release from the hospital has yet been considered.

For the time being, no one at the Vatican is in a position to say whether the Pope will be able to resume his pre-hospitalization work schedule. Accustomed to never taking a vacation, the Argentine pope is also known for working himself very hard, attending daily appointments one after the other even despite his doctors' warnings.

On the day he was hospitalized, for example, he had kept five appointments. “He's not really an octogenarian,” Dr. Alfieri commented at the press conference held at Gemelli on February 21. The Pope actually behaves like a man in his 50s or 60s, he explained.

Before being taken to Gemelli Hospital on February 14, Pope Francis already had a busy schedule planned through this summer.

Here, we look back at the many issues that the Pope is supposed to be dealing with.

Inaugurated on December 24, the Holy Year began with a weakened, breathless Pope Francis at the Vatican. During the first two thematic jubilee events — that of the World of Communications in January and that of the Armed Forces, Police, and Security Personnel in February — he was unable to deliver his entire prepared speech.

The Jubilees of Artists and the World of Culture, and of Deacons, and of the World of Volunteering have been since led by other curia officials.

From now until the end of March, only one major event is on the program: the Jubilee of Priests Instituted as Missionaries of Mercy (March 28-30). The event’s program originally included a penitential vigil to be presided over by the Pope in St. Peter's Basilica, as well as a meeting with the priests whose mission was instituted during the Jubilee of Mercy of 2016. For the moment, no update has been given by the Holy See, which will have to adapt according to the Pontiff’s state of health.

The months of April, May, and June will see a surge in jubilee events, in which the Pope was scheduled to participate. Notably, the Pontiff has invited young people both to a Jubilee of Teenagers in April and a Jubilee of Youth this summer. There will be high-profile canonizations at both: Carlo Acutis at the first and Pier Giorgio Frassati at the second. The summer event especially is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from July 28 to August 3, in sweltering Roman temperatures. Sometimes referred to as a “mini World Youth Day,” this jubilee is one of the highlights of the Holy Year in Rome.

The King of England, Charles III, and his wife, Queen Camilla, are due to make an official visit to the Vatican at the beginning of April. Buckingham Palace announced the visit 10 days before the Pope was hospitalized. Since then, no further details have been provided by the Holy See. Depending on the Pope's state of health, this visit could be one of his first official audiences after he resumes his activities, although at a probably still reduced pace.

In the context of the vacancy of the seat of the Anglican primate since the resignation of Justin Welby on January 6, the British sovereign's role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England would give this visit particular ecumenical significance.

Charles III's visit to Rome would be his first as sovereign. But as crown prince, he already visited the Vatican five times. He met popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, the latter for an audience in 2017. He returned to the Vatican two years later to attend the canonization of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Charles III's trip also includes a state visit to Italy, with events in Rome and Ravenna.

The week from Palm Sunday to Easter marks the most intense days in the life of the Church. The heart of the liturgical year, the Easter Triduum — the period from Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday — commemorates the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. In Rome as in the rest of the world, this period is punctuated by longer services than usual.

On Good Friday, the popes have made a habit of going to the Colosseum in the evening to experience the outdoor celebration of Jesus' Way of the Cross. However in both 2023 and 2024, Pope Francis has had to bow out at the last moment. He has been unable to go out and preside over this service due to his fragile health and the constant cold drafts. However, both years he did take part in the Easter Vigil celebrations on Saturday evening and the Easter Mass on Sunday.

Rome has already experienced an Easter without the presence of a pope, and Francis could theoretically not participate publicly in Holy Week if he were still ill or in recuperation. In 2005, Pope John Paul II had to delegate the presidency of each celebration. Very weak from illness, he appeared at the window of the Apostolic Palace but was unable to pronounce the Urbi et Orbi Easter blessing.

One week after Easter, Rome will be the scene of an event that’s expected to draw hundreds of thousands of the faithful to St. Peter's Square. The canonization of Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), scheduled for April 27, will take place during the Jubilee of Teenagers.

The young Italian put his computer skills at the service of evangelization to the point of being nicknamed the “geek of God.” He died at the age of 15 from leukemia, and his testimony spread rapidly throughout Italy and then throughout the world. The teenager, whose body is on display in Assisi, is an important witness of holiness for the Catholic Church to give to the new generations born in the digital age.

For the moment, the possibility of postponing the date of the canonization ceremony of the young Italian has not been raised. According to Roman sources, the Holy See could postpone it if the Pontiff is unable to preside. Others believe he could as an exception be represented by a cardinal for the celebration during which the decree of canonization would be read, but this would not be desirable.

Depending on the Pope's state of health, this question could be revisited this summer. During the Jubilee of Youth, another Italian blessed, Piergiorgio Frassati (1901-1925), is to be canonized on August 3.

A month after Easter, around May 24, Pope Francis wanted to give a new impulse to a rapprochement between Orthodox and Catholics during a trip to Nicaea (now Iznik), a port city near Istanbul in Turkey.

This trip, not yet officially announced by the Holy See, was planned to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, held in this city, which defined the Nicene Creed. In a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople on November 30, Pope Francis explained that preparations for a possible meeting had already begun.

Due to the seriousness of the Pontiff's respiratory infection, this 48th trip abroad by the Pope now seems unlikely. The most plausible solution would be to send a legate to Turkey to represent him.

But Pope Francis has often surprised observers with his ability to honor trips despite his fragile health. In 2023, he attended the WYD in Lisbon two months after major intestinal surgery. Six months ago, he completed a 12-day trip to Southeast Asia and Oceania, the longest trip (both in terms of days and distance) since his election in 2013.

The Synod on Synodality concluded last October. However, the work is still ongoing. The Pope set up 10 working groups to study certain sensitive issues and these groups are due to report their conclusions in June. Guidance from Pope Francis, who has always set the pace for synodal reflection, will be expected, although he has already announced that he has no intention of writing a post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

“I intend to prepare a letter or an apostolic exhortation dedicated to children,” the Pope announced 10 days before entering the Gemelli Hospital. The head of the Catholic Church made the announcement at the end of the international summit on the protection of children held at the Vatican in early February.

This document mentioned by the Pope, which for the moment has neither a title nor a publication date, could be his eighth apostolic exhortation since 2013. Apostolic exhortations don’t have the same fundamental legal value as encyclicals, but they consist of “exhorting” the Catholic faithful to engage on subjects considered essential. As such, they therefore constitute an important part of the papal magisterium, i.e. his teaching on social issues or spiritual topics.

On the 12th day of the Pope's hospitalization, the Vatican announced that the Pontiff had convened a consistory dedicated to two causes for canonization on a date yet to be determined. In concrete terms, it will be a gathering of the cardinals present in Rome around the Pope to confirm the new saints. This meeting, which is traditionally held in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, could also provide an opportunity to announce the dates of the canonizations.

The announcement of the consistory came as a surprise to many observers. In the context of Pope Francis' hospitalization, it echoed the similar consistory convened in February 2013 by Benedict XVI. The German pontiff used that opportunity to announce his resignation. Several sources have analyzed this decision of the Argentine pontiff as, on the contrary, a manifestation of his desire to resume the work of his pontificate.