Pope Francis has displayed a slight improvement in his laboratory test results and has started to resume some work duties. One of the activities he recently engaged in was making a phone call to a parish in Gaza City, a connection he has maintained since the onset of the war there, according to a statement from the Vatican.
The latest evening bulletin from the Vatican, released on Monday, reported a more positive outlook compared to previous updates. The bulletin mentioned that despite the 88-year-old Francis battling pneumonia in both lungs, there had been no further respiratory complications. Additionally, the minor kidney insufficiency identified on Sunday was not a cause for worry, and he was still receiving supplementary oxygen. The medical team overseeing his care stated that his condition remains cautiously optimistic.
This recent hospitalization marks the longest period that Francis has spent in a hospital since becoming the Pope. In 2021, he was hospitalized for 10 days at Rome’s Gemelli hospital following a surgery to remove a section of his colon, which measured 33 centimeters.
In New York on Sunday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan acknowledged what church leaders in Rome weren’t saying publicly: that the Catholic faithful were united “at the bedside of a dying father”.
“Our Holy Father Pope Francis is in very, very fragile health, and probably close to death,” Dolan said in his homily from the pulpit of St Patrick’s Cathedral, though he later told reporters he hoped and prayed that Francis would “bounce back”.
Francis’ condition has revived speculation about what might happen if he becomes unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, and whether he might resign.
