The Archbishop of Canterbury has offered his prayers for the health of Pope Francis, after the Roman pontiff was admitted to hospital.

On 29 March 2023 Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni released a statement saying: “In recent days Pope Francis complained of some respiratory difficulties and this afternoon he went to Policlinico A. Gemelli for some medical checks.”

He added the “outcome” showed a “respiratory infection (excluding Covid-19 infection) that will require a few days of appropriate hospital medical therapy.”

The 86 year old pope’s calendar has been cleared for Thursday “to make space for the continuation of tests should that be necessary,” the spokesman said.

The Most Rev. Justin Welby has offered his prayers for Francis’ recovery. Writing on twitter he said: