Vatican gives update on Pope Francis as he remains in hospital
The Vatican has said Pope Francis “rested well” as he remains in hospital.
The 88-year-old was taken to Rome’s Gemelli hospital more than a week ago.
He is being treated for double pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.
Doctors on Friday said he was “not out of danger” but was not at risk of death.
In an update on Saturday – the shortest since Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February – the Vatican said: “The Pope rested well.”
Vatican sources told Sky News a medical update is expected later on Saturday, while Pope Francis is likely to prepare a written homily for someone else to read at Sunday’s Angelus.
Millions of people around the world have been concerned about the Pope’s increasingly frail health – and his condition has given rise to speculation over a possible resignation, which the Vatican has not commented on.
Medics said Francis was expected to remain in hospital for at least another week in their first in-person update on Friday.
Sergio Alfieri, the chief of the pontiff’s medical team, said: “Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is ‘is he in danger of death’, the answer is ‘no’.”
Sergio Alfieri (R) said Pope Francis was a ‘fragile patient’ but was in ‘good spirits’. Pic: AP
He said Francis was affected by seasonal flu before being taken to hospital and that, “due to his challenging duties”, he had suffered fatigue.
The doctor described the Pope as a “fragile patient” but said he was in “good spirits” and joking with medical staff.
Francis is receiving occasional supplements of oxygen as part of his treatment and medics said he is responding to strengthened drug therapy for pneumonia.
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He is also fighting a multipronged infection of bacteria and viruses in the respiratory tract.
The doctors warned that while he did not have sepsis – where germs enter the bloodstream – there was always a risk the infection could spread in his body, and they said that was the biggest concern.
Sepsis is a complication of an infection that can lead to organ failure and death.
Pope Francis has a history of respiratory illness, having lost part of one of his lungs to pleurisy as a young man. He had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023.
