Pope Francis spent a “quiet” night, and he “rests” when he approaches three weeks of hospitalization for double pneumonia, said the Vatican this Thursday morning.
“The Holy Father remained in a stable state today without any episode of respiratory failure,” explains the last 88-year-old pontiff bulletin, which was to spend the night from Wednesday to Thursday for the third time in a row with an oxygen mask. “As expected, he received high speed oxygen therapy during the day and non -invasive mechanical ventilation will be resumed during the night,” the press release said.
Pope Francis’ “complex clinical picture”
While the Lent period begins – the most important party on the Catholic calendar – Pope Francis celebrated ash Wednesday from his hospital room, where he has been treated for twenty days for a double pneumonia. “This morning, in the private apartment on the 10th floor, the Holy Father participated in the rite of blessing of the Saintes ashes which were imposed on him by the celebrant, then received the Eucharist”, informs the press release.
At the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he has been hospitalized since February 14, the Argentinian Jesuit alternates rest, prayer, work and physiotherapy to overcome this disease that touches his two lungs and causes episodes of respiratory distress. “The Pope is collaborating with therapies and his mood remains good,” said Vatican News, the official Vatican website.
Last Monday, it was in the grip of “two episodes of acute respiratory failure” and these new crises recalled the fragility of the Pope’s state of health, whose clinical picture remains “complex”, reviving the concern of the faithful. His medical team has still not spoken on the duration of his hospitalization, the longest in the pontificate, nor on that of his convalescence, if he manages to overcome this test.