Despite being conscious, the 88-year-old pontiff required “high flows” of oxygen assistance for breathing.
He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.
White House is ‘praying for the pope’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump had been informed about the pope’s health status and was preparing a statement of his own to address the situation.
“We’re praying for the pope,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on first- and fifth-amendment grounds.
The AP says Leavitt and two others are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose.
The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Deacons, meanwhile, were gathering at the Vatican for their special Holy Year weekend.
Francis got sick at the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism.
This weekend, Francis was supposed to have celebrated deacons, a ministry in the church that precedes ordination to the priesthood.
Meanwhile, the Vatican disclosed that the Sunday Mass will be officiated by the Holy Year organizer in place of the pope. Additionally, for the second consecutive week, Pope Francis will be unable to deliver his typical Sunday midday blessing from Gemelli hospital.
“Look, even though he’s not (physically) here, we know he’s here,” said Luis Arnaldo López Quirindongo, a deacon from Ponce, Puerto Rico, who was at the Vatican on Saturday for the Jubilee celebration.
“He’s recovering, but he’s in our hearts and is accompanying us, because our prayers and his go together.”
