Pope Francis is greatly concerned about his health, after his hospitalization with polymicalobic bronchitis, and as Politico reports, he is in a hurry to arrange the pendulum for his succession.

The Pope is hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital with respiratory infection and has since been forced to cancel a series of public appearances.

It is the latest health crisis for the 88 -year -old Pontiff, which has been removed part of one lung when he was young, so his health has been increasingly fragile in recent years.

The Press Office of the Holy See stated that the pope’s bronchitis had developed into a “multicultural infection” with a “complex clinical picture”.

According to two sources cited by Politico, the Pope suffered from severe aches and has expressed fears that will not succeed this time. On Sunday, doctors did not allow Francis to speak his established morning preaching, which he did not lose even when he was hospitalized. But now, he acts entirely ‘By order of doctors’as a source typically said.

Another source said that the Pope initially did not want to go to the hospital but he was clearly told that If he didn’tand stayed in his room in the Vatican, would probably die.

As his health deteriorated in the last month, Francis has completed basic initiatives and appointing sympathetic persons in key positions.

Francis’ succession will be political

On February 6, before he was hospitalized, Francis extended the term of office of Italian cardinal Giovanni Batista Re As a Dean of the Cardinal College, a role that will oversee preparations for the papal concentration, a secret concentration that determines the selection of the new Pope.

This move, which bypasses the scheduled vote for the next dean, aimed to ensure that the process for his election would evolved according to the wishes of Franciscanthe same sources say.

The Italian cardinal is too big to join the concussion itself. Nevertheless, it will be a key figure in the backstage discussions. The fact that Francis chose him as a dean instead of a younger candidate, he indicates he wants to maintain a friendly person in the role where will defend her his legacyunderlined a source.

Prior to the 2013 pelican that elected him, Francis himself allegedly benefited from the influence of a cardinal group that were too big to participate in the process, but still influenced the result.

Giovanni Batista will also do the funeral ceremoniesif Franciscan dies, who had previously been joking that the cardinal would be “more kind” with him than other candidates.

As Politico points out, before his health worsened, Francis was at a politically sensitive moment.

He came to a confrontation with US Vice President J. N. Vans on the occasion of the attitude of the Catholic Church towards immigrants.

Vance, who has recently converted to Catholicism, has been confused against US bishops because they are opposed to the raids of the immigration and customs service (Ice) in Catholic churches and schools who provide refuge to immigrants. In his statements, he argued that bishops are not moving from humanitarian motives, but from a financial interest, as they receive state funds to support refugees.

Pontiff, in his circular to the US bishops, it adorned the policy of mass deportations of the Trump government, defended by Vance, describing it as “great crisis” and pointing out that every approach based on violence and not human dignity is doomed to fail.

OR his intervention caused the wrath of White Houseincreasing the prospect of a highly politicized succession battle if Franciscan dies.

“They have already influenced European policy, they would have no problem affecting the concussion”said a close observer of the Vatican policy, referring to the Trump administration. ‘They may be looking for someone less conflict’he appreciated himself.

On Saturday, Pontiff also accelerated his unprecedented reformist move to appoint a nunsister Rafael Petrini, as the Next and first female ruler of the Vatican cityannouncing that Petrini’s term will begin on March 1st.

However, even if Franciscan manages to come out strong, the observers see that Francis shifts his focus from the progress of the reform, to his lock.

“He may not die now, but at some point he will die”said a Vatican official. “We all die – and he’s an 88 -year -old man with lung problems”he stressed.