Pope Francis was conscious but still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen Sunday following a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, as he remains in critical condition with a complex lung infection, the Vatican said.
The brief statement early Sunday didn’t mention if Francis was out of bed or eating breakfast, which it had on previous days. “The night passed quietly, the pope rested,” it said.
On Saturday, doctors said the 88-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, was in critical condition after suffering a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection.
The pope received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe through a nasal tube. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.
The Saturday statement also said that the pontiff “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more discomfort than yesterday.” Doctors said the prognosis was “reserved.”
Doctors have said Francis’ condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease. His condition has revived speculation about what might happen if he becomes unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, and whether he might resign.
Francis was supposed to have celebrated Mass on Sunday morning in St. Peter’s Basilica and ordained deacons as part of the Vatican’s yearlong Holy Year commemoration.
The organizer of the Holy Year, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, celebrated the Mass in his place and offered a special prayer for Francis from the altar before delivering the homily the pope had prepared.
“Even though he is in a hospital bed, we feel Pope Francis close to us, we feel him present among us,” Fisichella told the hundreds of white-robed deacons. “And this compels us to make even stronger and more intense our prayer that the Lord will assist him in his time of trial and illness.”
A pre-written message that Francis had prepared for his Sunday noon prayer but did not deliver said he was “confidently continuing my hospitalization at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment; and rest is also part of the therapy!” The message noted the upcoming anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity.”
Politico
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