Evangelist Billy Graham, 93, hospitalized with lung infection

Billy Graham has been admitted to a North Carolina hospital for a lung infection, his evangelistic association said in a statement on Sunday.

“Upon admission, he was alert and in good spirits,� the statement said. “The pulmonologist treating Mr. Graham, David Pucci, DO, said that he is resting comfortably, that appropriate antibiotics are being administered and that his condition is stable.�

Graham, 93, is a widely popular evangelist who has remained active through the twilight of his extensive career, which included advising presidents and building a massive religious following in the United States through radio and TV broadcasts and personal appearances.

He’s battled health problems in recent years, fighting prostate cancer, bad hearing and failing eyesight. He’s been hospitalized for intestinal bleeding in 2007, pneumonia in 2011 and now a suspected case of bronchitis.

Graham is at Mission Hospital in Asheville, N.C., which his association says is near his home in Montreat.

The association also said that he’d been in good health in the past year and that he watched his grandson, Will, give a televised sermon from the First Baptist Church of Spartanburg, S.C., on Sunday.

Two weeks ago, Graham offered a statement in support of Chick-fil-A for its stand against gay marriage. “As the son of a dairy farmer who milked many a cow, I plan to ‘Eat Mor Chikin’ and show my support by visiting Chick-fil-A next Wednesday,� he said.

His association said he’s still active in his ministry and that he is nearing completion of a book project. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment.