Pope Francis’ health shows slight improvement, Vatican says
Rome â Pope Francis has shown further slight improvement as he battles double pneumonia, but doctors say his prognosis is still “guarded,” the Vatican said Wednesday.
A CT chest scan taken Tuesday evening showed the “normal evolution” of an infection as it is being treated. Blood tests have confirmed an improvement, according to the Vatican’s update. The slight kidney insufficiency detected a few days ago has receded, and Francis is continuing to receive respiratory physiotherapy.Â
This is the first time the Vatican has said Francis was receiving physiotherapy to help him expel fluid from his lungs.
Francis resumed work in the afternoon Wednesday after receiving the Eucharist in the morning, according to the Vatican, which also said the pope had a peaceful night and was up, sitting in his armchair on Wednesday receiving therapy.
The pope continues to receive high flows of supplemental oxygen but has not had any further respiratory crises since Saturday. Significantly, the doctors did not repeat that Francis remained in critical condition, though they said his prognosis “remains guarded.”
Reuters/Claudia Greco
A complex lung infection has kept the 88-year-old pope hospitalized since Feb. 14. Francis has chronic lung disease and was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital after a bout of bronchitis worsened.
Francis has been working from his hospital room, and the daily grind of the Vatican bureaucracy has been continuing in his absence. On Wednesday, the Vatican said Francis had appointed four new bishops and approved the creation of a new fundraising initiative to encourage donations to the Holy See, which has been enduring a financial crisis for years.
Francis likely approved the bishop appointments a while back and the new norms for the fundraising entity were approved Feb. 11, before he was hospitalized. But the announcements made them official and suggested Francis was still very much in charge and governing.
On Tuesday night, the faithful from Francis’ homeland gathered in the Argentine church of Rome for a special Mass presided over by Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, the pope’s vicar for Rome.
The rector of the church, the Rev. Fernando Laguna, said he hoped the pope could feel the embrace of the community’s prayer from the Gemelli hospital where he is recovering.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images
“I can’t go to Gemelli, because for him to recover he must be isolated,” he said. “I know that I hug him and that he hugs me when I pray. And now I would like to embrace the pope.”
Sister Nilda Trejo said she knew Francis’ health has always been delicate, with problems breathing and speaking loudly, and that’s why she always prayed for him.
“We knew that he often found it difficult,” she said. “In fact, you see that at the beginning of Mass, the microphone always has to be turned up because he has a bit of trouble. But he always spoke to the people. To the heart of the people.”
Across town, Romans and others gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the nightly Rosary prayer, presided over by Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
Francis continued to work from the hospital and on Tuesday announced some major governing decisions that suggest he’s getting essential work done and looking ahead.
About The Author
