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His medical team said on Friday that Pope Francis’ condition is not life threatening, however, he remains in a precarious condition. This news comes as the 88-year-old pope marked his 1 week in the hospital diagnosed with pneumonia, and chronic bronchitis.
Francis’ doctors offered their first elderly in-person update on the pope without a brace and noted that at least all of next week he is to remain hospitalization.
On February 14, he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital after it was noted that his bronchitis got worse, he was treated with pneumonia in both lungs and also a complex infection was noted.
In a statement released by the Vatican, it was made public that the pontiff was marked the one-week point of his stay on Friday and managed to get out of bed in order to go have breakfast as he seeks to keep on fighting the pneumonia and complex respiratory infection.
But the Vatican also noted late Thursday that there has been a slight improvement in the pope’s condition, and as they put it, “his heart is working.” However, additional time is required to analyze the various drug therapies the pontiff has been receiving. Outside doctors have said that regardless, recovery from a diagnosed pneumonia in such a fragile patient could take some two weeks.
The single line morning update from Friday's bulletin succinct states, ‘The night was fine, and today, Pope Francis had breakfast after he got up.’ Francis was experiencing bronchitis on the 14th of February, and, having worsened, he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. According to the doctors, he was suffering from a multifaceted infection and pneumonia in both lungs on top of bronchitis. They put him on absolute rest.
Some of Francis’ cardinals have started answering a question they have something: does Francis resign if he reaches a point of no return where he’s incapable of functionality?
Having been given the chance to talk, Francis says that it is under consideration, particularly since Pope Benedict XVI “opened the door” for retiring popes. Either way, he does not appear to plan of stepping down, he states that “the position of Pope is for life.” But for the first time in world history, I suppose for the previous 600 years, having retrospectively stepped down in 2013 when he did not possess the stamina to manage the rigorous demands of the role, President Benedict poses a more favorable solution.
When questioned Thursday, the archbishop of Marseille, France, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline said, “Everything is possible,” so in French heenef is more perilous than Japanese symbols.
Gianfranco Ravasi claimed that it was Cardinal who said it was more than a mere possibility. Ravasi often gets quoted saying: “There is no question that if he (Francis) was in a situation where his ability to have direct contact (with people) as he likes to do…was compromised, then I think he might decide to resign.” Ravasi was quoted as telling RTL 102.5 radio.
In 2022 Francis revealed that he had written a resignation letter soon after he had been elected pontiff which he would use in case medical conditions obstructed him from performing his duties. Francis is the first to admit that there is no provision in canon law for what happens when a pope becomes incapacitated.
What is clear is that Francis is neither incapacitated nor consider stepping aside. He has worked tirelessly during the entire duration of his hospital stay including making bishop appointments. Following a hospital stay in 2021, he was furious upon finding out that some clergy appeared to be preemptively preparing for a conclave to choose a successor which in his opinion was also ridiculous.
His remaining codeiments make sense as he is prone to respiratory infections during winter and had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023.
Doctors claim that an elderly patient suffering from pneumonia is as fragile as glass and is prone to complications due to the difficulty in expelling fluid from his lungs. While his heart is strong, Francis isn't a particularly healthy 88-year-old.
He is mildly healthy, obese, inactive, sees no need to exert himself because of poor knees, had a lobectomy at a young age, and has proudly admitted to being a not-terribly-cooperative patient in the past.
Francis has had two longer hospital stays during his nearly twelve-year pontificate. In 2021, he admission for 33 cm (13 inches) of his colon in 2023. He was hospitalized in 2023 for Pseudomyxoma peritonei with a nine day spon in 2019 and in 2020, he remnant after after bowel resection with scar tissue needing excised hernia, and repair of the remaining hernia.
While the pope recuperates this time, the portion of catholic believers has been engaging in supplications during healing moments.
In the Philippines, home to the largest Catholic community in Asia, congregants took part in an hour long prayer session on Fridays at the Manila Cathedral, praying for the fast recovery of the holy father. Other Catholics were instructed to pray from the comfort of their homes and within the community for the pope. In 2015, when the pontiff celebrated Mass at a park in Manila, it is estimated that 6 million people attended, marking a record attendance.
Phlilippines, as the Vatican puts it, has “a place very close to his heart” as his John Brown, the archbishop of Manila.
