Pope Francis had a quiet night in a hospital, the Vatican said yesterday, the morning after revealing the 88-year-old was in a “critical” condition following a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection.
“The night passed peacefully, the pope rested,” the Holy See said in a short update.
On Saturday night, the Vatican said the pope received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe, as well as blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting.
Photo: Reuters
“The Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical, therefore, as explained yesterday [on Friday], the pope is not out of danger,” the statement said.
It was the first time “critical” had been used in a written statement to describe Francis’ condition since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14.
The statement also said that the pontiff “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair, although in more pain than yesterday.”
Doctors declined to offer a prognosis, saying it was “reserved,” adding that Francis’ condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease.
They have said that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.
The Vatican earlier confirmed the Argentine pontiff would not deliver his usual weekly Angelus prayer yesterday, saying the text would be published, as it was the previous weekend.
As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the drugs he was taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition.
Francis, who has chronic lung disease and is prone to bronchitis in winter, was admitted to Gemelli University Hospital after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.
“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Gemelli, told a news conference on Friday.
“The English say ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they want,” he said as he tapped the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream.”
“He knows he’s in danger,” Alfieri added. “And he told us to convey that.”
Meanwhile, the Vatican hierarchy went on the defensive to tamp down rumors and speculation that Francis might resign. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated.
Francis has said that he has written a letter of resignation that would be invoked if he were medically incapable of making such a decision. The pope remains fully conscious, alert, eating and working.
Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily that such discussion was normal, but added that he he would not enter into “useless speculation.”
“Now we are thinking about the health of the Holy Father, his recovery, his return to the Vatican: These are the only things that matter,” the cardinal said.
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