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ROME (AP) – Pope Francis will receive treatment on Friday, earning the three-week mark in hospital for dual pneumonia in stable condition, but it won’t necessarily improve.
Francis, 88, spends 20 minutes in the chapel at Gemeri Hospital, praying between rest and respiratory and physical therapy, and doing some kind of work, the Vatican said. He used a high flow of supplemental oxygen to breathe during the day and assisted with a non-invasive mechanical ventilation mask at night.
A doctor not involved in his care said he wanted to see improvement after receiving three weeks of acute care in the hospital for dual pneumonia, and warned him that he was at an increasing risk of secondary infections as he continues to be hospitalized. Additionally, Francis had an episode of acute respiratory failure earlier this week and underwent bronchoscopy for inhaled mucus from his lungs.
Catholic worshipers pray during the prayer of Pope Francis’ Rosary on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
“He has respiratory failure and they were unable to release him from the hospital in the first three weeks, so he’s probably saying this is more concerned than the first,” said Dr Andrew Chadwick, a respiratory and intensive care specialist at Oxford University Hospital in the UK.
Jeffrey Millstein, a clinical assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, said it was not shocking that Francis hadn’t improved in three weeks and that he was able to breathe part of the day with the nasal tube of high flow oxygen alone. However, he said his condition was certainly “unstable, touched, certain circumstances,” and that recovery would still be a long process.
“I’m just not looking for a new set,” he said in the future.
Francis provided the first public sign of how weak he was on Thursday by recording audio messages broadcast to the faithful people of St. Peter’s Square who gathered for the evening reading of the Rosary prayers.
In it, Francis thanked the people for their prayers. However, his voice was barely discernible through his struggled breathing, and he spoke in Spanish in his native country rather than in Italian.
“I thank my heart for your prayers for health from the square, I will accompany you from here,” he said to the quiet square. “May God bless you, and your virgin protect you. Thank you.”
The message served a number of purposes. Since he entered Gemeri Hospital in Rome on February 14th, he has given a break from right-wing conspiracy theories and rumors that have been the first public indication of his life from the Pope, raising doubts about his true medical status.
The Vatican said that he wanted to record it in order to thank all those who Francis himself prayed for him. In a message last Sunday, Francis said he felt the love of so many people, “as if I was ‘carrying’ and supported by all God’s people.”
However, the audio also highlighted how weak Francis is. For those who were hearing him, the message was an emotional punch to the gut.
The Pope suffered from chronic lung disease and as a young man, he had removed a part of one lung.
The Vatican updated Francis twice a day about his condition, but had not distributed any photos or videos of him since the morning of February 14th.
The infection progressed to a complex respiratory infection and dual pneumonia that sidelined Francis for the longest time in the Pope for 12 years, raising questions about his Pope’s future.
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