Is no news good news? Silence from doctors as Pope remains stable for another day

ROME – Despite experiencing multiple respiratory crises last week, Pope Francis has been in a stable condition for several days and continues to work and undergo breathing and mobility therapy, while his overall prognosis remains unclear. A Vatican statement on 8 March said that Pope Francis “had a good night” and that more would be available on his medical status this evening.

Given the Pope’s stability and the lack of any respiratory crises for several days, doctors did not release a medical bulletin on his clinical status on Friday night. The Pope has been in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for three weeks for treatment of a complex respiratory infection and double pneumonia.

He has experienced several breathing crises, including several spasms that have required suctioning gastric content and mucus out of his respiratory tract, and which have forced him to depend on constant high-flow oxygen to prevent further incidents. Vatican sources said on Friday that the Pope was continuing to receive physiotherapy and mobility therapy, and that he was stable “in a complex framework.”

The 88-year-old pontiff is already missing part of one lung, which was removed due to a serious bout of pneumonia when he was a young Jesuit, and roughly half of his colon, which was taken out in 2021 due to a condition called stenotic diverticulitis, a restriction of the colon with possible inflammation or infection of pouches inside the walls of the large intestine. He also suffers from chronic sciatica and chronic breathing difficulties.

Vatican sources said on Friday that the Pope’s condition “remains stable in a complex framework,” and that his overall prognosis was still unclear, despite his stability in recent days. According to the sources, Pope Francis spent the day resting, undergoing breathing and mobility therapies, and praying. He spent roughly 20 minutes in the chapel next to his private suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli Hospital, before conducting work activities.

The Pope continues to use high-flow oxygen through nasal cannulae, or tubes, during the day, and is using non-invasive mechanical ventilation, a mask tightly adhered around the nose and mouth, at night to prevent further respiratory crises. On Thursday, after weeks of silence, the Pope recorded and published an audio recording thanking believers for their prayers, especially those who gather in St Peter’s Square to pray a nightly rosary for his health and recovery.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists on Friday that it was the Pope himself who wanted to publish the recording, in which his voice sounds laboured and breathless, because “he wanted to thank people for the many prayers they are saying for him and thanks to which he feels ‘carried’ and supported by the entire People of God.”

Given the lack of a clear prognosis, doctors have not yet indicated when Pope Francis might be discharged, and when he could potentially resume regular duties. They have consistently maintained that while stable, he is not yet out of danger.

The post Is no news good news? Silence from doctors as Pope remains stable for another day first appeared on Catholic Herald.

The post Is no news good news? Silence from doctors as Pope remains stable for another day appeared first on Catholic Herald.