Pope Francis’ doctors speak for the first time
The doctors tasked with saving the life of Pope Francis have spoken publicly for the first time about the grim reality of the beloved 88-year-old religious leader’s health.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Pope Francis may recover or he may not be long for this world, his doctors have revealed as the ailing pontiff continues to fight off multiple illnesses.
The head of the Pope’s medical team at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital held a press conference where Doctor Sergio Alfieri said he “wants his condition reported to the world without hiding anything.”
Dr Alfieri said the 88-year-old Catholic leader’s condition continue to change “day by day.”“Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is ‘is he in danger of death’, the answer is ‘no’,” Dr Alfieri said.
The press conference came after the Vatican revealed Pope Francis had the strength to get out of his hospital bed as he continues to battle pneumonia in both lungs.
“Pope Francis has had a restful night and this morning, got out of bed and had breakfast in an armchair,” the Holy See Press Office said on Thursday morning.
It comes after Italy’s prime minister said that she saw him in good spirits after visiting the 88-year-old pontiff in hospital on Wednesday.
“I was very happy to find him alert and responsive. We joked as always. He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humour,” Giorgia Meloni said.
The Vatican also said the pope was now in a “stable” condition with his blood tests showing a “slight improvement”.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are stable. The blood tests, evaluated by the medical staff, show a slight improvement, particularly in inflammatory indices,” it said.
The positive update comes after the Vatican said he passed a “peaceful night” on Tuesday amid growing concerns over his condition.
The pontiff was admitted with bronchitis last week after suffering breathing difficulties, but had since developed pneumonia in both of his lungs.
“The pope spent a peaceful night, woke up and had breakfast,” the Vatican said after Francis’s fifth night at the Gemelli hospital in Rome.
But in a late evening medical bulletin, it warned that “the laboratory tests, chest X-ray, and the Holy Father’s clinical condition continue to present a complex picture”.
The pontiff had part of his right lung cut away when he was 21, after developing pleurisy that almost killed him.
The Vatican has cancelled a papal audience on Saturday and said the pope will not attend a mass on Sunday, although it has yet to announce plans for his weekly Angelus prayer, which is held on Sunday at midday.
‘COMPLEX’: POPE DIAGNOSED WITH DOUBLE PNEUMONIA
Pope Francis, who was admitted to hospital last week, is suffering from double pneumonia as the 88-year-old’s clinical situation remains “complex”, the Vatican said.
“The follow-up chest CT scan to which the Holy Father underwent this afternoon … demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy,” the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The pontiff was expected to stay in hospital longer than initially believed after he was admitted with bronchitis five days ago.
After initially cancelling events through till Monday, the Vatican said the pope’s weekly Wednesday audience would not go ahead either.
“The results of the tests carried out in recent days and today have demonstrated a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment,” the Vatican said in a statement on Monday.
“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation.”
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters the pope was in “good humour” despite Monday’s update, which raise fresh concerns as the Argentine pontiff battles the latest issue in a series of health problems.
Leading up to his admission at Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14, Pope Francis had been noticeably breathless and delegated officials to read his speeches.
Two audiences due to be held by the pope on Saturday and Monday were later cancelled, while a cardinal led mass on Sunday in Francis’s place.
Pope Francis, who took over as head of the Catholic Church in 2013, is staying at the Gemelli in a suite used exclusively by popes which has its own chapel.
A wellwisher left a candle bearing a picture of Pope Francis at the base of the statue of Pope John Paul II at the hospital entrance.
Italian media reported that the pontiff was admitted after failing to recover following weeks of illness and said he may be in hospital for several days.
The pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has asked aides several times in recent days to read his speeches aloud on his behalf.
At his weekly general audience on Wednesday, Francis said he “cannot yet” read his own speeches, adding with a smile: “I hope that next time I can.” He also held meetings at home last week in an attempt to rest and recover. On Friday morning, the Vatican confirmed he had audiences with five visitors, including the prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico.
The pontiff has been plagued in recent years by health issues, although he continues to maintain a very busy schedule.
He pulled out of a Good Friday event last year after catching what the Vatican called a “light flu” but went on to lead Easter services as planned.
A year earlier, in March 2023, Francis was admitted to hospital for three nights with bronchitis, which was cured with antibiotics.
Another bout of bronchitis caused him to cancel a December 2023 visit to Dubai to participate in the United Nations COP28 climate change conference.
The pope also underwent a hernia operation in June 2023 and in 2021 underwent surgery for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of pockets that develop in the lining of the intestine.
He has been using a wheelchair since 2022 due to persistent knee pain and uses a cane during rare moments standing up.
Francis has also fallen a couple of times in the past few months, bruising his forearm in January and sporting a large bruise on his right jaw in December, caused by toppling from his bed.
Yet despite his health troubles, Francis rarely rests.
In September 2024, he completed a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, the longest of his papacy in terms of duration and distance.
He never takes holidays and keeps a busy schedule, sometimes with a dozen meetings in one morning.
Francis’s health issues regularly spark speculation over his future, particularly as his predecessor, Benedict XVI, quit over failing health in 2013.
While Francis has left open the option of resigning should he be unable to carry out his duties, he has said that for now he is going nowhere.
In a memoir published last year, the pope wrote that he did “not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning”.
Resignation is a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”, he wrote.
– with Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Originally published as Pope Francis’ doctors speak for the first time