Pope John Paul II has been taken to hospital suffering from an acute infection of the respiratory tract. The Vatican confirmed the Pontiff, who has been suffering from the flu, had been hospitalised after his condition deteriorated, but said he was not in intensive care.
"The flu condition that has afflicted the Holy Father for the past three days deteriorated tonight with an acute laryngospasm. For this reason, it was decided to urgently take the Pope to the Gemelli hospital," a Vatican statement said.
Laryngospasm is a closure of the larynx that blocks the passage of air to the lungs.
"The Holy Father is in the same room that he has used in the Gemelli in the past. It was not therefore necessary for him to be placed in the intensive care unit of the Gemelli hospital," a separate Vatican statement said.
"I can confirm that he has been taken to hospital," Vatican deputy spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini confirmed to journalists.
The 84-year-old Polish-born Pope apparently suffered a "breathing crisis," a Vatican official said on condition of anonymity.
The Pope fell ill with flu on Sunday and was forced to cancel all his engagements over the past two days.
The Pope, who has been in poor health for some years, had been taken to Rome's Gemelli hospital, the same Rome Catholic teaching hospital he was taken to when he was shot in the abdomen in 1981 and at which he has undergone several operations.