There is concern about a report by Politico regarding Pope Francis‘ health, as the website says the Pontiff is concerned about his health and is trying to tie up loose ends regarding the succession battle.

Two sources familiar with details of Pope Francis’ condition told Politico that the Pontiff is suffering from intense pain and has privately expressed his certainty that “this time he won’t make it.”

It will be recalled that the prelate of the Roman Catholic Church is being treated in a special ward of the Gemelli hospital in Rome after being diagnosed with a respiratory infection.

Based on the latest official statement, the 88-year-old pope, who as a young man was forced to have part of his lung removed, is suffering from a polymicrobial infection with tests “showing a complex clinical profile that requires appropriate hospitalization.”

On Sunday, doctors at the hospital barred the pontiff from delivering his homily, with one of Politico’s sources noting that Pope Francis “is doing exactly what the doctors tell him to do.”

According to the report, the 88-year-old prelate initially refused to go to the hospital but accepted when told in an emphatic tone that he was in danger of dying if he remained in his room at the Vatican.

The succession will be political in nature

Realizing that his health was deteriorating, the Pontiff completed critical moves and place friendly bishops in key positions.

On February 6, Pope Francis appointed Italian Cardinal Giovanni Giovanni Batista Re as head of the College of Cardinals, the person who will oversee the processes of forming the Conclave – the body that elects the pope.

As people with knowledge of what is happening in the Vatican explain, the decision was intended to ensure that the process would unfold according to Pope Francis’ wishes.

The cardinal in question will be a key figure in the behind-the-scenes processes before the formation of that body and is expected to defend the legacy of the current pontiff.

Cardinal Re will also be the one to oversee the funeral ritual of the current Pope should he die.