Pope Francis is continuing his recovery from double pneumonia, as rumours swirl about his potential death, resignation or conclave.
The Vatican has said that the 88-year-old pontiff slept well overnight in Rome’s Gemelli hospital and was resting on Thursday morning.
Doctors reported a slight improvements in his condition on Wednesday, noting that the kidney “insufficiency” detected in recent days had receded.
Blood tests also showed a slight improvement, and a chest CT scan indicated that his lung infection was taking a "normal evolution" as it was being treated.
Despite these positive signs, the prognosis remains guarded. The Pope, who had part of one lung removed when he was younger, continues to receive supplemental oxygen and respiratory physiotherapy to help his lungs expel fluid.
However, the Vatican has confirmed that he has not experienced any respiratory crises since Saturday.
Prayers for his health continue to be offered from around the world, with the dean of the College of Cardinals leading nightly Rosary prayers in St. Peter’s Square.
“We are gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray confidently that God will allow Pope Francis to resume his apostolic service as soon as possible, in the fullness of his physical strength and with that pastoral dynamism that characterizes him,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
As is now popularly known thanks to the Oscar-nominated film Conclave, the 91-year-old Re would have a key role in any papal death or conclave, called to preside over the funeral and organise the secret balloting in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope.
Francis recently extended Re’s term, keeping him on in the important job rather than naming someone new.
But on Wednesday night, Re was merely one of the Catholic Church’s most senior cardinals, an important point of reference for the men who lead the church, praying for Francis’ speedy recovery.
A complex lung infection has kept Francis hospitalised in critical condition since February 14. Francis has chronic lung disease and was hospitalised after a bout of bronchitis worsened.
While doctors didn’t repeat that he was in critical condition in Wednesday’s update, as they have in recent days, they said his prognosis remained guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.
By now a certain rhythm appears to have emerged from the Vatican’s updates: The pope receives treatments in the morning, including respiratory physiotherapy, and resumes work in the afternoon from his hospital room.
The Vatican said Wednesday that he had appointed four new bishops and approved the creation of a new fundraising initiative to encourage donations to the Holy See, which has been enduring a financial crisis for years.
Francis likely approved the bishop appointments a while back and the new norms for the fundraising entity were approved February 11, before he was hospitalised. But the announcements made them official and suggested Francis was still very much in charge and governing.
The Vatican in recent days has published a series of papal decisions that show Francis is both getting essential work done and looking ahead. He changed the law to give wide-ranging governing powers to the first-ever nun to lead the Vatican City State, and he called a future meeting of cardinals to set the dates for some upcoming canonisations.
The calling of a consistory is a normal and necessary step in the saint-making process. But it did however raise questions.
It was at a banal consistory to set dates for canonisations on February 11 2013 that Pope Benedict XVI announced, in Latin, that he would resign because he couldn’t keep up with the rigours of the papacy.
For now, Francis isn't taking any such decision from the hospital, where he has been cheered on by well-wishers. On Wednesday evening, trumpeter Felice Carella and singer Davide Capuano serenaded the pope with a rendition of Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’ under his 10th floor window.
“For me this is not a simple song, this is a big prayer for the pope so that he will better,” Capuano said. “These are terrible days and I hope the whole world can pray together with us.”
