Pope rested well after overcoming potential breathing difficulties

ROME – Pope Francis had a restful night on Monday as he continues to recover from pneumonia. His condition has improved, and he is now stable, breathing on his own without the need for mechanical ventilation. Doctors have observed no signs of new infection following a respiratory crisis he experienced last week.

“The pope rested well all night,” the Vatican said in its update from Gemelli hospital, where Francis has been hospitalized since Feb. 14.

Medical professionals caring for the 88-year-old pope noted that he went through Sunday without requiring the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask that assists in oxygenating his lungs, a significant improvement since Friday when he faced breathing difficulties. Although he no longer needs the ventilator, he is still receiving supplemental oxygen through a nasal tube to support his breathing.

The respiratory episode on Friday caused concerns of a potential new lung infection after the pope accidentally inhaled vomit. Doctors acted promptly to address the issue by clearing his airways. They are closely monitoring his condition and will assess over the next 24 to 48 hours to confirm if there are any signs of a new infection developing.

On Sunday evening, they said Francis remained stable, with no fever or signs of an infection, indicating he had overcome the crisis. His prognosis remained guarded, however, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.

Francis on Sunday also received a visit from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and his chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. The content of their talks wasn’t known, but even when at the Vatican, Francis meets at least weekly with them.

He again skipped his weekly noon blessing to avoid even a brief public appearance from the hospital. Instead, the Vatican distributed a message written by the pope from the 10th floor in which he thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, and prayed again for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“From here, war appears even more absurd,” Francis said in the message, which he drafted in recent days. Francis said he was living his hospitalization as an experience of profound solidarity with people who are sick and suffering everywhere.

“I feel in my heart the ‘blessing’ that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord,” Francis said in the text. “At the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.”

The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after his bronchitis worsened and turned into a complex pneumonia in both lungs.

On Sunday night at the Vatican, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski presided over the evening Rosary prayer in St. Peter’s Square.

“Let us pray together with the entire church for the health of the Holy Father Francis,” said Krajewski, who is the pope’s personal Almoner, a centuries-old job of handing out alms. Francis has elevated the job to make it an extension of his own personal charity.

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