Pope stable and resting in hospital as he again skips Sunday noon blessing
Francis cancelled the appointment delivering the Angelus prayer for the third weekend in a row.
Pope Francis is in a stable condition and resting as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia, but he has again skipped his weekly noon blessing on Sunday to avoid even a brief public appearance.
Instead, the Vatican distributed a message from the Pope in which he thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers.
He said he is living his time in hospital as an experience of profound solidarity with people who are sick and suffering everywhere.
“I feel in my heart the ‘blessing’ that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord,” Francis said in the text.
“At the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.”
It is the third weekend in a row Francis has cancelled the Sunday appointment delivering the Angelus prayer in person. He could have done so from his 10th floor hospital suite at the Gemelli hospital if he was well enough.
Despite the absence, many signs indicate he is recovering and improving.
“The night was quiet, the Pope is still resting,” the Vatican said in update on Sunday morning.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin and his chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, visited the Pope on Sunday – the second time they have done so since he was admitted last month, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. He gave no details on what was discussed, but the mere visit suggests Francis’s condition is stabilising.
He has no fever or signs of elevated white blood cells, which would signal his body is still fighting an infection.
Doctors on Saturday reported Francis was in a stable condition, with no mention of him being critical, and signalled once again continued improvement.
That upbeat assessment came a day after a respiratory crisis resulted in Francis being put on non-invasive mechanical ventilation.
The 88-year-old had a “good response” in his gas exchange levels even during the “long periods” he was off the ventilator mask, and only using high-flow supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.
The Pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted to Gemelli on February 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into a complex pneumonia in both lungs.
The fact Francis was able to use just high-flow oxygen for long periods, without any significant effect on the levels of oxygen in his blood, was a sign his respiratory function was improving.
He was eating and drinking and continued his respiratory physiotherapy, and spent 20 minutes in his private chapel down the hall on Saturday, the Vatican said.
Francis’s time in hospital comes as the Vatican is marking its Holy Year, drawing pilgrims to Rome from all over. They are walking through the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica and also making pilgrimages to the hilltop Umbrian town of Assisi, to pray at the home of Francis’s namesake, St Francis.
“Every day we’re praying for the Pope,” said the Rev Jacinto Bento, a priest visiting Assisi on Saturday with a group of 30 Jubilee pilgrims from the Azores Islands. “We’re very sad for his situation.”
