Pope Francis had a calm night in the hospital, the Vatican said Saturday, as the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church battles pneumonia.
“The night was peaceful, and the pope is resting,” it stated in a brief morning update on the Argentine, who has been in a private papal room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14.
The pontiff has had multiple respiratory crises since his hospitalization, the most recent occurring on Monday, but the Vatican has declared his condition as “stable” for several days.
He is currently in a “complex clinical condition,” thus “the prognosis remains guarded,” according to the statement released Friday.
On Thursday, Francis sent an audio message, the first time the world has heard his voice since he entered the hospital, in which he thanked those who were praying for his recovery.
Despite having completed three weeks of treatment at the Gemelli, the pontiff sounded frail and breathless.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square. I accompany you from here,” said the Pope, taking labored breaths every couple of words.
The pope performed some work and physiotherapy on Friday, but he largely rested and prayed, including spending about 20 minutes in the small chapel inside the hospital’s papal apartment, the Vatican said.
He continues to alternate between an oxygen mask at night and a cannula, a plastic tube inserted into the nostrils that provides high-flow oxygen during the day.
In an effort to increase transparency, the Vatican has published an update on how the pope slept every morning, followed by a more thorough medical bulletin each evening.
On Thursday, it stated that there will be no medical bulletin on Friday evening “given the stability of the clinical picture.”. The next is due later on Saturday.
During prior hospitalizations, the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics appeared on the Gemelli balcony for his weekly Sunday Angelus prayer. However, he has missed the last three, and no indication has been made concerning his attendance this weekend.
The pope has had a number of health concerns in recent years, ranging from colon surgery in 2021 to a hernia operation in 2023, but this is his longest and most serious hospitalization during his pontificate.
