Vatican City:
Pope Francis “rested” during his eighth night at the hospital, where the 88 -year -old man is treated for double pneumonia, said the Vatican on Saturday. Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome on February 14 with bronchitis, but he turned into pneumonia in the two lungs, causing a generalized alarm.
Friday, the doctors of the pontiff told a press conference that there was no imminent risk for his life, but that he was “not by danger”.
The Vatican morning update on Saturday morning was shorter than usual, without mentioning that he had eaten, simply saying: “Pope Francis rested well.”
Professor of Gemelli, Sergio Alfieri, told journalists on Friday that the state of the pontiff improved slightly, allowing doctors to gradually reduce the amount of medication he takes.
“The question is: is the Pope out of danger? No, the pope is not out of danger,” said Alfieri.
“If you then ask if he may die at the moment, the answer is still no,” he added.
His hospitalization threw a doubt about Francis’ ability to continue at the head of the Catholics of the world. But the Secretary of State of the Vatican Pietro Parolin rejected this as “unnecessary speculation” in an interview published on Saturday with the Corriere Della will be Italian daily.
“Now we are thinking of the health of the Holy Father, its recovery, its return to the Vatican: these are the only things that matter,” said the cardinal.
Parolin said he had personally not yet seen the Pope, saying he was available but that so far there was no need. “It is better that he remains protected and has as few visitors as possible, to allow him to rest and make the treatment he undergoes more effective,” he added.
In hospital all week
Francis, who stays in a special papal suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital, moved between his bed, a chair and an adjacent chapel where he prays. He will stay in the hospital “at least for every week next week,” said Alfieri.
“If we send him to Santa Marta (his house to the Vatican), he will start working again as before,” he said.
When asked if the pope would be good enough to lead Angelus’ prayer from his hospital window this Sunday, Alfieri said that “the pope will decide”.
The doctor said that “the real risk in these cases is that the germs pass into the blood”, which could cause a septicemia, a deadly condition.
Doctor Luigi Carbon said that the Pope, who was part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, now has a chronic lung state and “is by definition a fragile patient”.
But Alfieri stressed that “at the same time, he has incredible resilience – how many others would have endured all these infections by the workload he has?”
He added that Francis had trouble breathing but was on no machine and was “in a good mood”. He always has the mind of “a 70-year-old man, perhaps a 50-year-old player”.
But the absence of Francis du Vatican means that questions are raised about the future of a leader with a punitive calendar which has been increasingly prey to health problems in recent years.
Since 2021, he has undergone colon and hernies surgery, has been overweight and suffers from constant hip and knee pain, which forces him to use a wheelchair most of the time.
Francis is also one of the oldest popes for all time – and although he said that work was for life, the Pope left the door open to resignation like his predecessor Benedict XVI.
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