Pope Francis, who is in hospital with pneumonia in both lungs, had a "restful night" and got out of bed to eat breakfast in the morning, the Vatican has said. He was hospitalized on Friday, and on Monday, doctors identified a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection that then developed into pneumonia. A CT scan conducted Tuesday confirmed "the onset of bilateral pneumonia," Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said, which led to adjustments in the pope's treatment plan.
Pope Francis’ overall clinical condition is “improving slightly” and his heart is working well as he battles pneumonia, the Vatican said Thursday, as some of his cardinals cheered him on and insisted that the Catholic Church was very much alive and well even in his absence. In a late update, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis has no fever and that his key heart parameters “continue to be stable.” The 88-year-old pope was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 after a case of bronchitis worsened; doctors later diagnosed the onset of pneumonia in both lungs on top of asthmatic bronchitis and prescribed “absolute rest.”
The pope’s condition was stable and he had shown “slight improvement” in recent blood tests, according to the Vatican. A Vatican official, who didn’t want to be named, confirmed Francis was not on a ventilator and was breathing on his own. The pope was able to move around his hospital room, was taking phone calls and was still doing paperwork, the official added. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the pontiff on Wednesday and said he was “alert and responsive” — and even joked about people betting on his death, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported. “He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humor,” Meloni said in a statement.
