Pope Francis hospitalized for pneumonia for one week – Speculation arises about potential resignation.

ROME — On Friday, Pope Francis completed one week at the hospital. Despite being 88 years old, he was able to have breakfast as he continues to battle pneumonia and a complicated respiratory infection, according to the Vatican.

The Vatican announced late Thursday that there was a slight improvement in his overall condition, particularly in the functioning of his heart. However, it will require more time to determine the effectiveness of the different medications he is receiving. Medical experts have mentioned that recovery from pneumonia in a patient as frail as the Pope could take up to two weeks.

According to the one-line morning bulletin Friday, “The night went well, this morning Pope Francis got up and had breakfast.”

Pope Francis was hospitalized on February 14 at Gemelli hospital in Rome after his bronchitis worsened. Subsequently, doctors identified a complicated respiratory infection, which included bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms, as well as pneumonia affecting both lungs on top of asthmatic bronchitis. The medical team prescribed complete rest.

On Thursday, some of Francis’ cardinals began responding to the obvious question circulating: whether Francis might resign if he becomes irreversibly sick and unable to carry on. Francis has said he would consider it, after Pope Benedict XVI “opened the door” to popes retiring.

“Everything is possible,” said Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishop of Marseille, France.

Another cardinal, Gianfranco Ravasi, was asked if Francis might decide to follow in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI and step down if he becomes too ill. Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to retire when he concluded in 2013 that he didn’t have the physical strength to carry on the rigors of the globe-trotting papacy.

“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.

Francis confirmed in 2022 that shortly after being elected pontiff he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impeded him from carrying out his duties. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated.

But there is no indication Francis is in anyway incapacitated or is even considering stepping aside. During his hospital stay, he has continued to work, including making bishop appointments. And besides, after Benedict died, Francis made clear that he believed the job of pope is for life.

Francis had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winter.

Doctors say pneumonia in such a fragile, elderly patient makes him particularly prone to complications given the difficulty in being able to effectively expel fluid from his lungs. While his heart is strong, Francis isn’t a particularly healthy 88-year-old. He is overweight, isn’t physically active, uses a wheelchair because of bad knees, had part of one lung removed as a young man, and has admitted to being a not-terribly-cooperative patient in the past.

Francis has had two longer hospital stays during his nearly 12-year pontificate. He spent 10 days at Gemelli in 2021 when he had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed. In 2023, he was admitted for nine days for surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair an abdominal hernia.