Pope eating, reading but weekend events cancelled, says Vatican
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Pilgrims gathering at St Peter’s Square on Feb 18. Many of those who were there said they were praying for the Pope’s recovery.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis breakfasted and read the papers as usual on Feb 18 on his fifth day in hospital but appears no closer to being discharged, with the Vatican cancelling his weekend events.
The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb 14 for bronchitis, but the Holy See said on Feb 17 it was changing his treatment to deal with a “complex” clinical picture.
After initially clearing his diary up until Feb 19, the Vatican said that an audience on Feb 22 would be cancelled, and the pope delegated a planned mass on the morning of Feb 23 to another cleric.
The Vatican did not however mention the Angelus prayer, which the pope normally delivers at noon on Sunday, but which he missed last weekend.
Briefing reporters at lunchtime on Feb 18, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Argentine pontiff’s situation was similar to that of recent days.
Francis “woke up and had breakfast and dedicated himself to reading some newspapers as he regularly does”, he said.
He that there would be a medical update in the early evening.
Pilgrims pray
Francis, the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to hospital after struggling for several days to read his texts in public.
It is latest of a series of health issues for the Jesuit, who has undergone hernia and colon surgery since 2021 and uses a wheelchair due to pain in his knee.
Among the pilgrims and tourists gathered in Saint Peter’s Square on Feb 18 morning, many said they were praying for the pope’s recovery.
“I hope that he’s getting better soon,” Ms Birgit Jungreuthmayer, a 48-year-old Austrian tourist, told AFP.
“I trust in the medical treatment of the general practitioners of the hospital and I hope they will give their best.”
On Feb 17, the Vatican said tests had confirmed “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract that has led to a further change in treatment”.
“All the tests carried out until now are indicative of a complex clinical picture that will require adequate hospitalisation,” it said.
In an update on the evening of Feb 17, it said the pope’s condition was unchanged.
“The Holy Father remains without a fever and is proceeding with the prescribed treatment,” it said - without specifying what that was.
The pontiff had done some work, the statement said.
“Pope Francis is touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness he continues to receive,” it added.
Active schedule
Despite his health troubles, Francis remains a very active pontiff, with a busy weekly schedule and regular overseas trips.
In September 2024, he completed a four-nation Asia-Pacific tour, the longest of his papacy by duration and distance.
A source within the pope’s entourage had told AFP on Feb 17 that Francis was admitted after a “very busy” two weeks, during which “he was weakened” - but insisted there was no alarm.
Francis followed a mass on Feb 16 on television
“I would have liked to be among you but, as you know, I am here at the Gemelli hospital because I still need some treatment for my bronchitis,” Francis wrote.
The Jesuit has left open the option of resigning if he became unable to carry out his duties.
His predecessor, Benedict XVI, stunned the world in 2013 by becoming the first pope since the Middle Ages to step down, citing his ailing health.
But in a memoir published in 2024, Francis wrote that he did “not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning”.
Stepping down is a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”, he wrote.
In an autobiography published in January 2024, he said that despite his ailments, “I carry on”.
“The reality is, quite simply, that I am old,” he said. AFP
