Pope Francis has found the Vatican, but his precarious state of health forces him for long weeks of convalescence.
The pope, hospitalized since February 14 for a double pneumonia, left his hospital room on March 23, the Vatican, but a convalescence of at least two months awaits him, according to Professor Sergio Alfieri, of the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. “We hope he can quickly resume his normal activities,” said Doctor Luca Carbone. His first public appearance took place from a hospital balcony.
The sovereign pontiff decided not to hide his fragility by showing himself in front of the crowd. The whole world has seen him in a wheelchair, struggling to raise his arms and trying important difficulties in expressing himself. It must be understood that “high speed oxygen has certainly caused speech difficulties and even more,” said Professor Francesco Vaia to the Italian newspaper He is the CORRIERE DE LA SERRA. This doctor also said that “the pope will have to submit to respiratory exercises and […] Also recover his muscle tone “and already warns that François will have to get used to a new way of life:” He now has a fragility and a handicap. He can do a lot of things again, but not everything, and above all he will not be able to make heavy commitments or make long trips. It will be important, as with all his peers, to have a correct and healthy lifestyle “.
If the French Pope’s medical file remains confidential, we know that his state of health has been “stable” since Monday March 10, 2025, the date on which doctors decided to “lift the prognosis” which was until then “reserved”. Since then, the state of health of Pope Francis does not seem to have deteriorated, on the contrary the Vatican has mentioned in recent days of “new improvements”. Pharmacological therapies and physiotherapy are still maintained, as well as the respiratory assistance of the Sovereign Pontiff which tends to decrease. The bronchitis he contracted at the start of the year has become pneumonia affecting the two lungs. The Vatican had explained that “polymicrobial infection, which declared itself against the backdrop of bronchitasis and asthmatic bronchitis, and which required the use of antibiotic therapy based on cortisone”, had made therapeutic treatment “more complex”. As a reminder, Saturday, February 22, the Pope was also the victim of an breathing asthmatic crisis. He then needed a contribution of high speed oxygen, as well as a blood transfusion.
Pope Francis’s fragile health
Pope Francis has experienced a delicate moment with his long hospitalization, but he has been sick for longer. In recent years, the octogenarian has multiplied hospitalizations and operations, some of which had been hidden by religious authorities before being revealed by Italian media. The health concerns of the Pope, who appeared, very weakened had then aroused great concern. After consecutive and rather important medical problems, between 2021 and 2023, Pope Francis seems to have escaped new big health problems in recent months. The new hospitalization of the Pope at the beginning of 2025 is worrying, the state of the Pope is to be monitored: in people over 75, acute bronchitis can justify increased medical surveillance, especially when symptoms and inflammation persist beyond 10 days.