Pope Francis has had another “peaceful” night in hospital after experiencing two respiratory crises earlier this week, the Vatican reported Thursday.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who has been in hospital since February 14, spent a third night aided by a non-invasive ventilator to support his breathing.
He continues to receive oxygen through a nasal tube during the day.
While his condition has improved over the past two days, doctors remain cautious given the complexity of his health situation, including chronic lung disease and the removal of part of a lung in his youth.
Despite these challenges, the Pope marked Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, by receiving ashes and reaching out to a parish priest in Gaza.
He has also incorporated physical therapy into his treatment regimen.
In his absence, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis led the Ash Wednesday procession and delivered a homily expressing solidarity with the Pope and gratitude for “the offering of his prayer and his suffering for the good of the entire church”.
The Catholic Church commenced the Lenten season without its leader's physical presence, but with a message of unity and hope for his recovery.
On Ash Wednesday, observant Catholics receive a sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads, a gesture that underscores human mortality.
It is an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence that signals the start of Christianity’s most penitent season, leading to Easter on April 20.
“The condition of fragility reminds us of the tragedy of death,″ Cardinal De Donatis said in his homily.
“In many ways, we try to banish death from our societies, so dependent on appearances, and even remove it from our language. Death, however, imposes itself as a reality with which we have to reckon, a sign of the precariousness and brevity of our lives.”
The pope was supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy. On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in “spiritual communion” with him.
The theme, selected before Francis got sick, was “Hope in eternal life”.
