Rome – Pope Francis continues to improve and doctors decrease his mechanical oxygen supply overnight, said the Vatican on March 15.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father remained stable, confirming the progress highlighted last week,” said a Vatican statement published at 6:55 p.m. local time on Saturday March 15.
The bulletin said that if Francis continues to receive high -speed oxygen therapy through nasal tubes during the day, it is weaned for the mechanical ventilation he used at night for almost two weeks.
The report is the last briefing of the Pope’s medical team since March 12 update That the most recent thoracic radiographs of Francis confirmed that he continued to cure double pneumonia.
Although the Pope’s doctors announcement Earlier this week that the pontiff is no longer in imminent danger, he always has pneumonia and chronic bronchitis, which leads to what doctors call a “complex” medical table.
The Pope is his fifth week at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, and the Vatican refused to speculate on a calendar for his release.
Francis continues both respiratory and physiotherapy, and this evening medical bulletin noted that “these therapies, at present, display additional and progressive improvements”.
Saturday at noon, the Vatican announced that Francis, on March 11, approved a three -year plan focused on the implementation of the reforms initiated by its recent Synod on synodality. The announcement is widely considered in Rome as a strong signal that Francis intends to continue as a pope, despite the speculation of a potential resignation after its prolonged hospitalization.
The pressure to make the Catholic Church more synodal – less office and encourage greater participation of all its members – was a project to sign the Papacy of Francis. A report At the end of the meeting of the October Synod, the church called on its seminar training programs, imply the laity in the selection of Catholic bishops and to allow greater participation of women in the management of the church.
The new calendar includes the stages of diocesan and continental evaluation which will end in a Vatican assembly in October 2028.
The letter published on March 15 was signed by the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech. “The Holy Father hopes that this phase, as indicated in the Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis Communio (n. 7, arts. 19-21), receives particular attention so that synodality is increasingly understood and has lived as an essential dimension of the ordinary life of local churches and the whole Church, “he said in the letter to the bishops.
Friday, March 14), the Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin – the Secretary of State of the Vatican – celebrated the mass of the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace for diplomats and ambassadors accredited to the Holy See to pray for the recovery of the Pope.
“We are gathering in prayer this morning for the intention of the health of the Holy Father, so that he can recover and come back soon among us,” said the cardinal in his homily.
Earlier this week, March 13, Francis celebrated the 12th birthday of his pope election. To mark the occasion, the hospital staff presented a cake to the pontiff, decorated with 12 candles.
The Italian postal service announced this week that it had received an increase in the letters sent to the Pope and to the Vatican – causing up to 330 pounds of additional mail per day since the Pope entered the hospital.