Pope Francis remains in critical condition but his lab tests have shown a slight improvement, doctors have said.
A Vatican statement this evening said the Pope’s clinical conditions “in their criticality show a slight improvement”.
“Today there were no episodes of asthmatic respiratory crisis,” the statement said, and “some laboratory tests improved.”
Initial and slight signs of kidney damage that presented on Sunday, which doctors described as being “under control”, currently “do not cause concern”, according to the statement.
Pope Francis continues to receive oxygen through the nose following what the Vatican described as a “prolonged respiratory crisis” on Saturday, though with “slightly reduced flows and percentages of oxygen”.
Given the complexity of his clinical condition, doctors have said his overall prognosis is still guarded, and they are not yet ready to issue a determination one way or another.
Doctors on Friday had said that the Pope was “not out of danger” and that “both doors are open” in terms of the final outcome of his illness.
Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital on February 14 to treat bronchitis and was later diagnosed with a polymicrobial respiratory infection consisting of viral, bacterial and fungal elements, as well as pneumonia in both lungs.
After a respiratory crisis Saturday, he presented with anaemia and thrombocytopenia, a condition in which his blood platelet count is low.
Doctors said Sunday that the Pope’s anaemia had improved after receiving two units of concentrated red blood cells the day before, however, his thrombocytopenia remained.
There was no mention of the thrombocytopenia in the latest medical bulletin, and it is unclear whether this condition was among the laboratory results that showed a slight improvement that day.
After receiving the Eucharist in the morning, the Pope resumed work activities in the afternoon and on Monday evening called the Catholic parish in Gaza to thank them for a video greeting they had sent, and to express “his paternal closeness”.
Vatican sources have said the Pope is able to move around his room and that his work consisted of reading various texts and signing documents.
Pope Francis, according to the statement, “thanks all the people of God who in these days have gathered to pray for his health”.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar of Rome, on Sunday celebrated Mass for the Pope’s health at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, and on Monday he celebrated Mass for the Pope at the Santa Maria Addolorata Church in Buenos Aires square in Rome, with the Argentine expat community.
A rosary led by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and attended by the various curial officials and cardinals residing in Rome, was scheduled to be said for Pope Francis and his health at 9 pm local time in St Peter’s Square.
@The Catholic Herald
