Pope Francis' doctor reveals his final regret before his death aged 88

In the wake of Pope Francis' passing, his doctor has revealed the 88-year-old's final regret.

After over a decade as serving as the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis died peacefully on April 21 at Saint Martha House in Vatican City.

The Pope, whose birth-given name was Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had been battling some health issues for some time having been taken to hospital back in February after suffering from a bout of bronchitis. He was then diagnosed with double pneumonia a few days later and remained in hospital for five weeks.

He was released on March 23 and began resuming some of his duties as Pope, but the 88-year-old never fully recovered from his bout of illness.

Then, on Monday, Pope Francis died following Easter weekend.

It went on to be revealed that the religious figure died from a 'stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse', which was confirmed through electrocardiographic thanatography.

Pope Francis’s doctor, Dr Sergio Alfieri, has since spoken out on the 88-year-old's final moments.

Dr Alfieri was alerted at 5.30am on Monday by Francis’s health care assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, that he'd had been stricken and needed to be taken to the hospital.

The doctor told Italian newspaper Corriere that he arrived 20 minutes later.

"I went into his room, and he had his eyes open. I noted that he did not have respiratory issues, so I tried to call him but he did not respond," Dr Alfieri was quoted as saying, adding that his lungs were clear and he was receiving supplemental oxygen.

Dr Sergio Alfieri seen with Pope Francis in 2023 (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

Dr Alfieri went on: "He also did not respond to stimuli, even painful ones. In that moment, I understood there was nothing more to do. He was in a coma."

Now Pope Francis' doctor has revealed that he expressed some regrets to him before his death.

On Holy Thursday (April 17), the pontiff visited prisoners in a jail in Rome. Speaking about this to La Repubblica, Dr Alfieri shared: "He regretted he could not wash the feet of the prisoners. This time I couldn't do it — was the last thing he said to me."

The act of washing people's feet commemorates Jesus washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.

While Pope Francis wasn't in full health in the lead up to his passing, his doctor said that he 'wanted to go home to be Pope up until the last moment'.

"He didn't let us down," Dr Alfieri added.

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