By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis’ doctors described his condition as “stable” late Feb. 19 even though “blood tests, evaluated by the medical staff, show a slight improvement, particularly in the inflammatory markers,” which are used to monitor infections, a Vatican medical bulletin said.
As further proof that the pope was stable, the Vatican said the pope had had a 20-minute private meeting at Rome’s Gemelli hospital with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The prime minister had announced her afternoon visit several hours before the Vatican did.
“I am very happy to have found him alert and responsive,” Meloni said in the communique issued by her office. “We joked as always. He has not lost his proverbial sense of humor.”
The Vatican medical bulletin Feb. 18 had said that a CT scan revealed the onset of double pneumonia, adding that the pope’s history of lung problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis have resulted in “bronchiectasis,” a widening of the airways that makes a person more susceptible to infection, and “asthmatic bronchitis” which makes “therapeutic treatment more complex.”
Still, Pope Francis was reportedly getting out of bed each day, reading and doing some work. Although the doctors’ orders for “complete rest” meant he generally was not receiving visitors, his secretaries were at the hospital with him.
Most evenings at 7 p.m. he was making his regular phone call to Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the priests and sisters on staff are giving shelter to hundreds of people.
A source, who was not authorized to give details of the pope’s medical condition, said the pope’s heart is “holding up well” and that he has not needed a ventilator, oxygen mask or CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine.
The source also confirmed that a couple of days before Pope Francis agreed to be hospitalized, he had gone to Rome’s Gemelli Isola Hospital for tests. He has been an inpatient at the main Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14.
Two Masses are celebrated each day in the St. John Paul II Chapel on the first floor of the main Gemelli hospital. Obviously, prayers are always offered for the current pope, particularly when he is a patient there.
But the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that special prayers were added Feb. 19 by Father Nunzio Currao, the hospital chaplain, who prayed that the Lord would watch over the pope and strengthen him so that he could return to leading the church “with his wisdom and love.”
The priest added that he prayed God would heal the pope “soon, in human terms.”
Please continue to pray for the Holy Father. Here is a prayer released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Prayer for Pope Francis
O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful,
look favorably on your servant Francis,
whom you have set at the head of your Church as her shepherd;
Grant, we pray, that by word and example
he may be of service to those over whom he presides
so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care,
he may come to everlasting life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Votive candles and flowers are seen at the base of a statue of St. John Paul II outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital Feb. 19, 2025, where Pope Francis is being treated for double pneumonia. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
A statue of St. John Paul II stands outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital Feb. 19, 2025, where Pope Francis is being treated for double pneumonia. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
