Over the past half-century, there has been a gradual disclosure of information regarding the health of popes in the Vatican, transitioning from a period of silence surrounding the illness of John XXIII to the release of detailed medical bulletins during Francis's hospitalizations.
John XXIII (1958–1963)
Italian Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, elected at the age of 76, suffered from stomach cancer. The diagnosis was made only a few months before his death on June 3, 1963, and the severity of his condition was not disclosed. During the Second Vatican Council, which he convened, the Vatican remained vague about his illness, withholding information until his passing.
Paul VI (1963–1978)
Giovanni Battista Montini suffered from arthritis and various age-related health issues that gradually limited his mobility throughout the 1970s. He died of a heart attack at the age of 80 on August 6, 1978, at the papal residence of Castel Gandolfo, near Rome. During his reign, the Vatican provided only rare and brief information about his health.
John Paul I (August–September 1978) was elected on August 26, 1978, and died just 33 days later at the age of 65, which was a global surprise. The Vatican reported that he died of a heart attack, and an autopsy was not performed. Contradictory versions in the initial official reports regarding the cause of his death fueled speculation and conspiracy theories.
John Paul II (1978–2005)
With the arrival of John Paul II, the health of the papacy became a global topic. Following the assassination attempt on him in St. Peter's Square on May 13, 1981, the Vatican began regularly updating information about his well-being, which was then covered by the media hour by hour. Photographs of the Polish pope lying in a hospital bed across the world, with hands and limbs covered in bandages and connected to IV drips, circulated. He subsequently underwent several operations, including a procedure in 1992 for a benign colon tumor. The Vatican demonstrated greater openness regarding his hospital stays than it did concerning the medical treatment of other popes, although signs of Parkinson's disease, noticeable since the 1990s, were confirmed significantly later. In the final months of John Paul II's papacy, information about his health increased. Despite weakness, tremors, a bowed head, and frequent inability to speak, Karol Wojtyła continued to appear in public until his death on April 2, 2005.
Benedict XVI (2005–2013)
Little information about the health of the German pope, Joseph Ratzinger, elected at the age of 78, was ever made public. On February 11, 2013, he announced his resignation, which was a major surprise, citing the deterioration of his physical and mental condition—this was the first such decision by a pope in seven centuries. Thus, without disclosing specific illnesses, he raised a public question about the physical fitness of the pope to govern the Church and broke the taboo surrounding papal resignations.
Francis (2013–2025)
Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected at 76, had undergone partial lung removal in his youth. His papacy was characterized by knee and hip pain, which forced him to use a cane and later a wheelchair, as well as several hospitalizations. In July 2021, he underwent a colon surgery at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, and in June 2023, an operation for an abdominal hernia; these events led to speculation about a possible resignation. In February 2025, while hospitalized at Gemelli with bronchitis that progressed to double pneumonia, he was in the hospital for over five weeks. Following this, the Vatican began issuing regular medical bulletins, detailing, in particular, the Pope's respiratory treatment and critical moments when his life was in danger. The Gemelli Hospital lobby was converted into a press conference hall where the Pope's doctors answered questions from journalists worldwide live. Francis died in the Vatican at the age of 88 on April 21, 2025, one day after his last public appearance on Easter Sunday.
Leo XIV (since 2025) announced himself during the Angelus prayer on St. Peter's Square on Sunday that a nodule had been found in one of his lungs during routine examinations. This was the first such announcement by a pope. The American pontiff was hospitalized at Gemelli Hospital two days later for surgery.
