The Pope at Gemelli Hospital. No more clusters of reporters; the TV crews are on the hill and there is no longer a daily bulletin

By now, they are used to it at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic. And Pope Francis’s hospital admissions, after all, have been numerous and recent. Just as numerous were those of John Paul II, from the assassination attempt on 13 May 1981 onwards, all well documented in a photographic gallery dedicated to the Polish Pope, which runs along a long corridor of the hospital. In these wards, therefore, people are not particularly fazed by the surprise admission of Pope Leo XIV for the removal of lung cancer – an operation carried out on Tuesday, which appears to have gone perfectly. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon, when the operation was already underway. We immediately noticed something new compared to the hospitalisations of other popes. The medical bulletin is no longer read out inside the hospital; doctors no longer appear before journalists with a piece of paper in hand, but everything takes place elsewhere: a statement is issued by the Holy See in the Vatican press office. And indeed, there is less of a crowd than usual at the Gemelli. The writer recalls the massive encampments of journalists from all over the world in 2005 for Pope Wojtyla. Now everything is more subdued and orderly.

There are those TV journalists who have made a small hill above the campus their favourite spot: from here, reporters are filmed with the main entrance to the Gemelli Hospital behind them – the perfect vantage point to convey the impression of a correspondent on the ground, even though the news is read to them by the editorial team via the news agencies. The list includes CNN, CBS News, ABC, Noticias Telemundo, the Catholic network EWTN, the Portuguese channels SIC TV and RTP, the German channels ARD and BR24, the Spanish news agency EFE, the Swiss broadcaster RSI, and the Argentine channel A24. Fox News is absent, which is somewhat surprising given that the pope is American, but such is life. Then there are all the Italian channels, although TG1 with Ignazio Ingrao is situated elsewhere, in an even better spot – who knows whether this is a privilege granted by the RAI or whether they simply got there first. Inside the hospital, there is a room – number 402 – reserved for the press, but few use it. In fact, the reporters are scattered about, milling around the chapel dedicated to John Paul II. A Mass was held (“as takes place every day at 1.05 pm”, it is emphasised), followed by a rosary led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome and Archpriest of the Basilica of St John Lateran. There were hopes for a statement, but none came from the archbishop. All the pews are full: prelates and nuns are arriving, along with relatives of Gemelli Hospital patients holding their test results, as well as doctors and nurses at the end of their shifts. The rosary is recited, prayers are said, and some are moved to tears. From here, however, nothing leaks out. Everything goes through the Vatican. The papal apartment is on the tenth floor, an entire wing reserved for popes, built in the 1980s specifically to accommodate Wojtyla: the Pope’s room has large windows overlooking the rear of the hospital; there are dedicated entrances and lifts, as well as passageways allowing access to the surgical and diagnostic areas without being seen; there is a sitting room, a meeting room for doctors, a room for secretaries and attendants, and a chapel for prayer. During one of Wojtyla’s hospital stays in 2005, when the Pope was already very ill, I, together with a colleague who knew the hospital inside out, managed to make our way through unfamiliar corridors and passageways right up to the front of the papal apartment – only to be unceremoniously shown the door by plainclothes police officers.

Gemelli, where Alessandro Di Battista was also recently admitted following his illness and operation in Cuba, is enormous – a city within a city, a hospital-world founded in 1964, nestled between the Trionfale and Monte Mario. With its 5,607 staff and 1,611 beds, and over 100,000 admissions and 90,000 surgical procedures a year, it is one of Europe’s most important hospitals. A few days ago, it was ranked first amongst Italian polyclinics for the fifth consecutive year according to Class Editori’s Best Italian Hospital Awards. It is also confirmed as number one in Italy for 2026 by the weekly magazine Newsweek, followed by Milan’s Niguarda, Humanitas and San Raffaele hospitals. The director is Daniele Piacentini, whilst the chair is held by a familiar face in politics: Daniele Franco, former Accountant General of the State and former Minister for the Economy in the Draghi government.