Pope Francis' personal physician died of COVID-19 | The State

Since 2015, Fabrizio Soccorsi he had taken care of the health of the highest prelate of the Catholic Church; this Saturday the Vatican media reported that Pope Francis’ personal physician died of complications from COVID-19.

Soccorsi was head of the Department of Hepatology and director of the Department of Liver Diseases, Digestive System and Nutrition and the Department of Internal and Specialized Medicine of the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital in Rome, in addition to serving as a professor of immunology and health consultant for the Vatican state.

According to Vatican News, Soccorsi was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital, in Rome, due to an “oncological condition” that was not detailed. He died at that institution from complications related to COVID-19. He was 78 years old.

According to the same post, in 2017 the doctor suffered a severe personal blow when his daughter Cristiana died prematurely after suffering a long illness, a circumstance that would have affected him “deeply”.

It is not clear when was the last time Soccorsi had contact with the pontiff.