Pope Francis spent a good night and was able to rest, despite being in a “critical state,” according to a Vatican statement released on Monday. This update comes on the eleventh day of his hospitalization, which is the longest since his election in 2013. The Argentine pontiff continues to receive high-flow oxygen, as indicated in the latest health report published on Sunday night.
The complexity of his clinical picture and the time needed for pharmacological therapies to take effect have led doctors to maintain a prudent prognosis. Although his anemia has improved and thrombocytopenia – a decrease in the number of platelets in the blood – has remained stable thanks to blood transfusions made on Saturday, some blood tests show a mild initial renal failure, which is currently under control.
The health status of the Chief of the Catholic Church, who has been hospitalized since February 14, deteriorated on Saturday with a prolonged asthmatic attack that required high-flow oxygen, as well as hematological problems that necessitated a blood transfusion. Abele Donati, head of the Anesthesia Unit and Intensive Care of the University Hospital, told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della on Monday that renal failure could indicate the presence of sepsis in its initial phase. “It is the organism’s response to an ongoing infection, in this case of the two lungs,” he explained.
“We must expect antibiotic therapy to work to avoid the risk of septicemia… that it could have a fatal outcome. The Pope is certainly in good hands, but the next few hours and days will be decisive,” wrote Virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco in the newspaper La Stampa on Sunday. Pregliasco is not part of the medical team treating the Pope.
Prayers for Pope Francis
In Rome and around the world, especially in Latin America, numerous prayers for the Pope’s health have been organized. “He is strong, he was always strong, but there is nature. I know it is very serious and age. I hope he recovers, but it makes me pity,” said Héctor Armando DÃaz, a 76-year-old retiree, on Sunday at the entrance of the Cathedral of Buenos Aires, speaking of his compatriot and the first Latin American Pope.
Many religious and political leaders have also expressed their prayers for him. The President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, wished for a “prompt recovery to Pope Francisco, a great humanist who has opted for the poorest and to promote fraternity between people and among nations” on Saturday night. Social networks are flooded with people affirming that they pray for Francisco, with some accompanying their messages with a famous photo of the Bishop of Rome, alone in the Plaza de San Pedro, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This Monday night, at 8:00 p.m., a prayer for the Pope and the sick, directed by the Secretary of State and number two of the Holy See, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will take place. The Argentine Jesuit was hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome with bronchitis, which resulted in bilateral pneumonia, a potentially deadly pulmonary tissue infection. This hospitalization, the fourth since 2021, has raised great concern for the health of the Pope, already weakened by a series of problems in recent years, from colon and abdomen operations to difficulties in walking.
The health problems of Jorge Bergoglio have fueled speculation about his ability to lead the almost 1.4 billion Catholics in the world, although Canon Law does not provide any disposition in case of a serious problem that alters his lucidity. Speculations about a possible resignation, fed by opponents of Francisco, especially in Catholic conservative circles, have been dismissed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who said, “I have the impression that these are useless speculations,” in an interview with El Corriere Della Sera on Saturday.