ROME (AP) – Pope Francis was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper on Saturday after a surprising set-off of two weeks of recovery from dual pneumonia.
Doctors said it would take a day or two to assess how the Friday afternoon episode affected Francis’ overall clinical condition. His prognosis was still protected. In other words, he was not out of danger.
In a Saturday morning update, the Vatican said the 88-year-old Pope had no further respiratory crisis in one night: “The night has passed quietly, and the Pope is resting.” He had a coffee in the morning for breakfast.
The candle with a photograph of Pope Francis is placed on Wednesday, February 19th, 2025 under the statue of the late Pope John Paul II, outside the Agostino Gemeri Polyclinic in Rome.
In a later update on Friday, the Vatican said Francis suffered from “an isolated crisis of bronchial spasms.” This led to a “sudden deterioration of the respiratory image” when Francis coughed inhaled vomit. The doctor inhaled the vomit and placed Francis in non-invasive mechanical ventilation.
The Pope always maintained consciousness and vigilance, and cooperated with the maneuver to help him recover. According to the Vatican, he responded well at a good level of oxygen exchange and continued to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen.
An episode that occurred early in the afternoon marked the setback of two consecutive daily reports from doctors treating Francis at Gemeri Hospital in Rome since February 14th.
The doctor says this episode is amazing
The Vatican said the episode was different from the long breathing crisis on February 22, but it was said to have caused Frances’ discomfort.
Dr. John Coleman, a lung emergency physician at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said the isolated episode, relayed Friday by the Vatican, was wary of Francis’ vulnerability and could “turn his condition very quickly.”
Pope Francis delivers his blessings in a weekly general audience at the Vatican Pope Paul VI Hall on Wednesday, February 5th, 2025 (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
“I think this is very concerning given the fact that the Pope has been in the hospital for more than two weeks. And now he’s continuing these breathing events and now he has this suction event that requires even higher levels of support,” he told The Associated Press.
“So, given his age and his vulnerable condition and his previous lung resection, this is very concerning,” added Coleman, who is not involved in Francis’ care.
Dr. William Feldman, a lung expert at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said during the episode it was a good sign that the Pope remains vigilant and oriented, but agreed to mark a “worrisome turn.”
“In many cases, non-invasive ventilation is used as a way to attempt to use intubation or invasive mechanical ventilation,” Feldman said.
Types of non-invasive ventilation include BIPAP machines that help people breathe by pushing air into their lungs. Doctors often try such machines to see if the patient’s blood gas levels improve and ultimately return to using oxygen. A statement on Friday said Francis had used ventilation to show a “good response” to gas exchange.
Doctors did not resume referring to Francis being in a “crisis state.” But they say he is not out of danger given the complexity of his case.
The prayers continued to pour
Francis’ hospitalization came as the Vatican marks the holy year in which pilgrims are attracting to Rome. They walk through the sacred door of St. Peter’s Cathedral and also make a pilgrimage to the Umbrian town of Assisi on the hill to pray at the house of Francis’s name.
“We pray for the Pope every day,” said the Rev. Jacinto Bent, a priest who visited Assisi on Saturday with a group of 30 Jubilee pilgrims from the Azores.
Catext and Argentine native Veronica Abraham came to Assisi on Saturday with two children and other children from the diocese of Lake Garda, and the group said they prayed for the Pope at every church they visited.
“I’m sure he’s listening to our prayers. He feels our intimacy,” she said.
Serena Bourbon visited Assisi from Treviso on Saturday with her husband and three children and said she hopes that if Francis doesn’t accomplish that, the next Pope will become like him.
“He is very charismatic and we pray for him, and that the new Pope may also be someone who places the poor at the center, because we are all poor,” she said.
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Dell’orto reported from Assisi in Italy. Washington Associated Press Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed to the report.
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Associated Press’ Religious Reporting will be supported through collaboration with the Associated Press and Conversation, along with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is responsible for this content only.
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