Pope Francis, hospitalised in critical condition with pneumonia in both lungs, was showing a “slight improvement”, the Vatican said Monday, while cautioning that doctors would not offer a prognosis.
Amid global concern over the 88-year-old’s health, the Vatican said in its evening bulletin that “the critical clinical conditions of the Holy Father demonstrate a slight improvement.”
“Today there were no episodes of asthmatic respiratory attacks; some laboratory tests have improved,” it said, noting that Francis had worked in the afternoon after receiving the Eucharist in the morning.
On Monday evening, a few hundred faithful joined dozens of cardinals assembled in St Peter’s Square to recite the rosary. The prayer for Francis — leader of the Catholic Church since 2013 — was led by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with breathing difficulties, but his condition worsened, with his bronchitis developing into double pneumonia.
Oxygen that has been administered in recent days was given Monday “with slightly reduced flows and percentage of oxygen,” the Vatican said.
It cautioned, however, that “considering the complexity of the clinical picture” doctors declined to “decide on the prognosis”.
Francis’s medical team have said the drug treatments he is undergoing will take time to show an effect, and on Friday they warned he would remain in hospital for this entire week, at the very least.
