Pope Francis is no longer in imminent danger of death following pneumonia which kept him hospitalized for almost a month, the doctors said on Monday, but they decided to keep him hospitalized for several days to receive treatment.
In a late update, the doctors have said that the 88 -year -old Pope remains stable and has consolidated improvements in recent days, as determined by blood tests and positive responses to drug treatments.
The Vatican said that the doctors had raised their previous “kept” prognosis, which means that he determined that he was no longer in imminent danger due to the original respiratory infection with which he arrived on February 14. But caution has remained.
“However, given the complexity of the clinical image and the significant infectious image presented to admission, it will be necessary to continue medical pharmacotherapy in a hospital frame for additional days”, according to the Vatican press release.
In a sign of her improved health, Francis followed the spiritual retirement of a Vatican week via the conference video on Monday during the morning and afternoon sessions.
As he did on Sunday, Francis participated in the remote retirement from the Rome hospital where he is treated. He could see and hear the Reverend Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the Papal House, but the priests, the bishops and the cardinals gathered for the retirement of the Vatican auditorium could not see or hear him.
Pasolini delivers a series of meditations this week on “The Hope of Eternal Life”, a theme that was chosen long before Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome on February 14 with a complex pulmonary infection.
Retirement – an annual rally that starts the solemn ready -to -lender season of the Catholic church leading to Easter – continues throughout the week. The Vatican said that Francis would participate “in spiritual communion” with the rest of the hierarchy, by far.
Francis also resumed his physical and respiratory therapy at the Gemelli hospital, and rested and prayed between the two. Francis used a nasal tube for additional oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a non -invasive mechanical ventilation mask at night, a therapy he was pursuing on Monday.
Pope Francis, who suffers from a chronic pulmonary disease and had part of a lung as a young man withdrawn, had what was just a bad case of bronchitis when he was hospitalized last month. The infection has progressed in a complex respiratory tract infection and a double pneumonia that sidelined it for the longest period of its 12 -year papacy and raised questions about the future.
Pope Francis thanked the sympathizers of Well Dishers from the bottom of my heart ‘in his first audio message since he was hospitalized for double pneumonia almost three weeks ago. The brief message recorded by Francis of the Gemelli Hospital in Rome earlier during the day was played during a night prayer service for the 88-year-old pontiff on Place Saint-Pierre at the Vatican.
Pope’s health speculation and talk about conclaves
Francis always had his eye on things. The Vatican said that he had been informed of the floods of his native Argentina and had expressed its proximity to the affected population. In addition, a Vatican cardinal near Francis spoke on Monday to refute certain negative media reports that circulated in his absence.
The Vatican Development Office published a letter written by Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny to one of the close friends of Francis, the Argentinian militant of social justice Juan Grabois. Grabois had gone to Rome to pray for Francis at the Gemelli hospital, and some Italian media reported last month that he had tried to force in the hospital suite on the 10th floor of Francis, a complaint he denied.
In the letter of March 6, Czerny told Grabois that Francis “knew your presence in Rome and your daily watches of prayer and spiritual solidarity to Gemelli Polyclinic, and I am sure that it gave him real comfort and support.”
“In addition, I know that you join me to strongly repudiate the unfounded versions which have circulated in certain media on an alleged inappropriate behavior in the hospital,” wrote Czerny.
The Vatican is still in excitement with rumors but has entered over -off with speculation about Francis’s health and speaks of conclaves, even if Francis is very lively and responsible. The fact that Czerny found it necessary to defend one of Francis’ friends suggested that rumor and maneuver in the absence of Francis had crossed a line.
Thursday, the Vatican will mark the 12th anniversary of the Francis elections, the first with Pope out of sight but still in charge. Francis was elected 266th Pope, the first Jesuit pope and first of Latin America on March 13, 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benoît XVI.
