Son Says Jimmy Swaggart in Critical Condition and Needing a Miracle
Pastor Jimmy Swaggart is in critical condition and in need of a miracle after suffering cardiac arrest and being placed in intensive care, his son Donnie said Tuesday. The 90-year-old minister entered the hospital Sunday after EMT personnel revived him at his Louisiana home. Swaggart was one of the most well-known television and radio pastors in the 1970s and 1980s and has regained a large following in recent years through his SonLife Broadcasting Network.
Donnie Swaggart updated SonLife viewers Tuesday on his father's health as he choked back tears after returning from a hospital visit.
"I wish that I could tell you right now that there's a recovery and things are going better, but there's been no change," the son said.
It has been, he said, a "very stressful 48 hours."
"The bottom line, as we sit here right now, is that without a miracle -- that's the only thing that we can hope for," Donnie Swaggart said.
The younger Swaggart said he read Psalm 18 while visiting with his father.
"As for God, His way is perfect," he said, citing the chapter.
"We don't question the Lord," he added. "... Every one of us is granted a period of time on this earth in the providence of God's will, and it is up to us to make the most of the time that the Lord gives us on this earth. And I think Dad went far beyond making the most of his time.
"I'm asking you to keep praying."
Donnie Swaggart also requested prayer for his mother, Frances.
"You can imagine the physical and mental and emotional toll that this is having on her," he said.
Jimmy Swaggart rose to national fame in the 1980s through his television ministry, The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast. After a highly publicized fall in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he rebuilt his life and ministry, continuing to preach from his church, Family Worship Center in Louisiana.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Cindy Karp/Contributor
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published June 17, 2025.
