Pope Francis has urged people to pray for him as he battled a serious pneumonia infection from his hospital bed in Rome.
The 88-year-old pontiff was rushed to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on 14 February where he is fighting an infection in both lungs.
He is fighting a “complex” infection and was given oxygen and blood transfusions on Saturday amid fears it could spread to his bloodstream and cause sepsis, Gemelli’s Dr Sergio Alfieri said.
“I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation, carrying on with the necessary treatment,” he said in a pre-written message released by the Vatican on Sunday.
“I ask you to pray for me,” he added. “Thank you for this closeness, and for the prayers of comfort I have received from all over the world.”
The Pope’s statement was likely written days ago in preparation for Sunday’s prayers, which he has missed due to his illness.
In a one-sentence update released separately on Sunday, the Vatican said: “The night was tranquil, the Pope rested.”
Francis, who has been the Pope since 2013, is prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young man and had part of one lung removed.
Dr Alfieri said he was highly vulnerable because of his age and general frailty and warned sepsis caused by the infection would be “very difficult to overcome”.
“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Dr Alfieri said on Friday, adding: “He knows he's in danger. And he told us to relay that.”
Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs.
They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it.
“He is not out of danger,” said his personal physician, Dr Luigi Carbone. “So like all fragile patients, I say they are always on the golden scale. In other words, it takes very little to become unbalanced.”
Who leads the Catholic Church when the Pope is sick?
Explained
- Pope Francis’s recent hospitalisation for a lung infection has raised questions about the Catholic Church’s leadership if he becomes incapacitated
- Despite his condition, Pope Francis remains in charge, with the Vatican confirming he is resting peacefully
- The day-to-day operations of the Vatican are delegated to officials like Cardinal Pietro Parolin, even during the Pope’s illness
- Canon law lacks specific provisions for a severely ill or unconscious pope, though proposals have been made to address this gap
- Pope Francis confirmed he wrote a letter of resignation to be invoked if he becomes medically incapacitated, but its canonical validity is uncertain
- Read the full story
Last week, some of Francis’s cardinals suggested the Pope could step down if he became too unwell to carry on. Francis has said he would consider it after Pope Benedict XVI “opened the door” to popes retiring.
“Everything is possible,” said Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishop of Marseille, France. Another cardinal, Gianfranco Ravasi, was asked if Francis might decide to follow in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI and step down if he becomes too ill.
“There is no question that if Francis was in a situation where his ability to have direct contact with people as he likes to do was compromised, then I think he might decide to resign,” Mr Ravasi said.
