VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis, who suffered two respiratory crises on Monday as he battles double pneumonia, has stabilized and no longer needs to use mechanical ventilation for help breathing, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
Francis, 88, had been put on non-invasive ventilation on Monday after suffering what was described as two episodes of “acute respiratory insufficiency” that day.
The pope has now returned to receiving oxygen via a small nasal hose under his nose, said the Vatican press office. His condition, it said, is stable, although doctors have kept his prognosis as “guarded,” meaning the pope is not out of danger.
Francis has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14, when he was admitted for a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.
A full medical update on the pope’s condition was expected on Tuesday evening.
Francis has not been seen in public since entering hospital, his longest absence from view since his papacy started in March 2013. His doctors have not said how long his treatment might last.
Monday’s setback came following several days of relatively upbeat statements about his condition. The Vatican said the two respiratory episodes on Monday were caused by “a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus.”
The pope, it said, had suffered a bronchospasm, akin to an asthma attack, and had required two bronchoscopies, or procedures to inspect his air passages.
The Vatican would not say on Tuesday whether the pope had received sedation during the procedures.
A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorized to discuss the pope’s health, said on Monday evening that the pontiff’s blood tests that day had remained stable.
The pope’s doctors believe the respiratory episode was part of his body’s normal response in fighting infection, the official added.
Francis has experienced several bouts of ill health over the last two years and is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection in both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe.
RUMORS
As Francis battles double pneumonia, talk of the pontiff’s death or resignation has become almost commonplace.
Some newspapers have published articles informing their readers about what to expect during the papal funeral. A few senior Catholic cardinals are talking openly about the possibility that Francis could follow his predecessor Benedict XVI and resign.
Reading the signs coming from Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the pope does not appear to have plans to resign any time soon.
“He’s always been a fighter,” said Elisabetta Pique, a personal friend and biographer of Francis. She said the former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, elected pope in 2013, doesn’t have any plans to step down.
“He doesn’t give in under pressure,” said Pique, a correspondent for the Buenos Aires-based La Nacion newspaper. “The more pressure they put on him, the more likely he won’t give in.”
Speculation about the pope’s possible resignation started a few days after his hospitalization. Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, a retired prelate not known as close to the pope, suggested in a February 20 radio interview that Francis might renounce the papacy.
French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, sometimes listed as a possible successor to Francis, when asked about the possibility of resignation at a Vatican press conference, responded, “Everything is possible.”
‘DISTANT HYPOTHESIS’
Francis, who has shunned much of the pomp and privilege of the papacy and has sought to open up the often staid Catholic Church to the modern world, has laughed off speculation about his fate.
After a February 19 meeting in hospital with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s Corriere della Sera reported that he told her: “Some have been praying for the pope to go to heaven, but the Lord of the Harvest thinks it best to keep me here.”
Austen Ivereigh, who co-wrote a book with the pope in 2020, said that comment may have been light-hearted, but it said something serious.
“What he’s saying is actually this is about God’s will, not anybody else’s,” said Ivereigh. “In other words, you may want a new pope – but, look, I’m still alive, I’m still here.”
The pope has ruled out resigning in the past, calling it in 2024 a “distant hypothesis.”
Like several popes before him, Francis has said he signed a letter of resignation shortly after his election in 2013, meant to be used only if a severe mental issue made it impossible for him to carry out his duties.
It is unclear how or if such a letter could ever be used. Church law has no procedure for determining if a pontiff has become incapacitated. It also specifies that a pope’s resignation must be “made freely and properly” by the pontiff himself.
‘HE’S STILL THE POPE’
Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital.
Staff appointments needing his approval are being announced at their regular daily pace. He has continued signing official messages to Vatican offices, with notes added at the bottom to say they are being sent “from Gemelli hospital.”
The pope has met twice in hospital with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s number two official, to discuss pending matters. The Vatican has said the meetings are “audiences”, the official term for an encounter with the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church, no matter where the pontiff is.
Ivereigh, who has written two biographies of Francis, said the pope is sending a clear signal from hospital that he is the one governing the Church.
“He’s a man of governance who understands authority,” said Ivereigh. “It’s important for him that we know that he’s present and still in charge. He’s still the pope.”
