Pope Francis remains in a critical but stable condition after spending eleven days in hospital. The Holy Father is fighting a complex respiratory infection and bilateral pneumonia, and doctors are either unable or unwilling to offer an overall prognosis.
The Vatican stated in a medical bulletin issued later in the day on 25 February that “the clinical conditions of the Holy Father remain critical, but stationary”.
“There have been no acute respiratory episodes, and his hemodynamic parameters continue to be stable,” the statement said. It noted that the Pope underwent a CAT scan to check the status of the pneumonia affecting both of his lungs; however, the results are not yet available.
After receiving the Eucharist in the morning, the Pope resumed work activities, the statement said, adding that doctors are still not ready to offer an overall prognosis for the 88-year-old pontiff.
In recent days, following a respiratory crisis on 22 February, the Pope has been on oxygen and has been suffering from mild kidney damage amid an ongoing concern of sepsis, due to the nature of his respiratory infection and the amount of medications he is taking.
A Vatican statement on Monday, 24 February, said the Pope’s kidney damage “is not of concern” and that the condition of his kidneys continues to be stable and remains under control, while the pontiff remains alert and aware. He is still on high-flow oxygen administered through the nose, but at a slightly reduced level as of 24 February.
Pope Francis, who has called the Holy Family Catholic parish in Gaza nightly since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, and who has continued the routine of such calls while in hospital, phoned the parish again on Monday night to thank parishioners for a video they sent wishing him well.
He was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome on 14 February for treatment of bronchitis and was later diagnosed with a complex respiratory infection and pneumonia in both lungs. He was stable for the first week of his hospital stay, but took a downward turn on 22 February after experiencing a respiratory crisis.
After that episode, he was treated for anaemia with two units of concentrated red blood cells, and is also receiving treatment for a low blood platelet count.
Cardinals and curial officials in Rome have been rallying in prayer for Pope Francis and his health in recent days.
Masses are being celebrated twice daily for his health at different chapels in the Gemelli Hospital, and a nightly rosary is now being prayed for the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, the first of which took place on Monday and was led by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Tuesday’s rosary was led by Filippino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelisation.
On 24 February, Pope Francis met with Parolin and with the substitute in the Secretariat of State – essentially Parolin’s chief of staff – Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, to advance various saints’ causes, and to call a consistory for the canonisation of two saints, the date for which has not yet been set.
Vatican sources said that the presence of Parolin and Peña Parra, instead of the prefect for the Dicastery for Saints Causes, Marcello Semeraro, likely indicates that there were other documents and texts for the pontiff to sign, in addition to the canonisation causes he advanced.
@The Catholic Herald, excluding headline
