The facility treating Pope Francis

Outside the Gemelli Hospital in Rome stands a large statue of one of its most famous patients, Pope John Paul II.

Made of white Carrara marble, it depicts the pontiff in his later years, stooping and clutching a crucifix, his brow furrowed in pain.

Doctors at the Gemelli hospital helped save John Paul’s life, after he was shot in a failed assassination attempt in St Peter’s Square in May 1981. He underwent a six-hour operation to remove a bullet from his abdomen.

It was the first time a Pope had been treated at Rome’s largest hospital.

Among the hospital’s current patients is Pope Francis, who was admitted last week with a respiratory infection. He has been diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs.

Over the course of his 25 year-long pontificate, John Paul was admitted around 10 times, sometimes for prolonged stays. He received treatment for various illnesses, including a benign intestinal tumour, a broken hip and a tracheotomy, when his Parkinson’s disease was at an advanced stage.

The Gemelli, which is a Catholic teaching hospital, opened in the 1960s. With more than 1500 beds, it is one of the biggest private hospitals in Europe.

Built on land donated by Pope Pius XI to the theologian and physician Agostino Gemelli in 1934, it has become known as the “Pope’s Hospital.” John Paul II even nicknamed it “Vatican Three,” with St Peter’s Square being Vatican One, and the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, Vatican Two.

In the 1980s, the Gemelli set up a special Papal suite, which is still in use today.

It’s a small apartment on the tenth floor, an all-white suite with austere, simple furnishings. As well as the bedroom and bathroom, there is a living room, with a sofa bed for his aides and a chapel with a kneeler and a large crucifix, where the Pope can attend or celebrate mass and say prayers.

The long access corridor, leading to the suite is guarded by Italian State Police, the Vatican Gendarmerie and hospital security.

The Papal suite is reserved for popes, but other patients are treated on the same floor.

There’s a balcony where the Pope can appear to greet the faithful and say the weekly Angelus prayer.

Well-wishers often gather in the square outside the hospital to pray for the health of the pontiff. Flowers, cards, photos and candles are often laid at the foot of the statue of John Paul II.

According to official announcements, Pope Benedict XVI was never admitted to the hospital during his 8-year papacy, although he visited when his brother received treatment there in 2014.

Pope Francis has been treated at the Gemelli several times. In 2013, he had an operation on his colon. He was treated for infectious bronchitis in March 2023, and had surgery for an intestinal hernia later that year.

He has often been seen thanking his medical team and other hospital workers. At the end of one stay, he baptised a newborn baby, and shared a pizza dinner with his doctors, nurses, assistants and Vatican security personnel.