Vatican indicates Pope Francis ‘rested well all night’ after registering an improvement
Monday’s bulletin on the pontiff showed positive signs: no more asthma attacks have been recorded, some tests have improved, and kidney failure ‘is not a cause for concern’
The medical report issued Tuesday morning on the health of Pope Francis, who has been admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for 11 days, simply states that there is no news following Monday’s announcement, which indicated a “slight improvement”: “The Pope has rested well all night,” it stated. The medical bulletin, with more clinical details, will arrive at 7 p.m., barring any unforeseen events.
In its brevity, as is now customary in the first announcement of the day, it indicates that the slow recovery of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 88, continues. He has been suffering from bilateral pneumonia, was reportedly in “critical” condition and on Saturday suffered a worrying relapse. The Pope experienced a prolonged respiratory crisis, symptoms of anemia, and an initial mild renal failure. But all these complications seemed to be overcome on Monday, when for the first time the afternoon medical report was openly positive. It indicated a “slight improvement” despite the “severity” of his condition and his reserved prognosis. It pointed out several notable advances: no more asthmatic respiratory crises had been recorded, some laboratory tests had improved, and his “mild kidney insufficiency has not raised any concerns,” said the statement.
The report also said that “oxygen therapy continues, but with a slightly reduced flow and percentage of oxygen.” It also stressed that the Pope had resumed his work, another sign of a return to normality, and had made a phone call, as on other days, to the Catholic parish in Gaza, where several hundred Palestinian Christians are taking refuge, in a display of solidarity. This report reinforced the optimism that had already begun in the morning, when the Vatican stated that the Pope “is in good spirits, is not in pain, and is continuing with therapy,” after having had a good night.
The general picture is that the antibiotic and drug therapy against pneumonia seems to be working, but relapses are still possible and Francis needs time to get out of danger. “He is like an 88-year-old man with a polymicrobial infection: viruses, fungi and bacteria,” the doctors said on Friday, adding that the Pope has no other pathology and his heart “is perfect.”
The Pope, who has suffered from respiratory problems whenever the cold weather sets in since 2023, was admitted to hospital on February 14 after suffering from bronchitis for at least 10 days that had not fully cleared up. This was also due, in part, to his insistence on continuing to maintain his usual work rhythm. He himself said in a public audience that he was affected by bronchitis; he had difficulty breathing and on two occasions he delegated the reading of his speech. On Sunday, February 9, he even presided over the open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square, despite the intense cold. Finally, on February 14, after maintaining his scheduled audiences and given that breathing and speaking were becoming increasingly tiring, he decided to be admitted to the Gemelli hospital.
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