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LAST UPDATE | 23 Feb 2025
THE VATICAN HAS said Pope Francis’s condition “remains critical” but the 88-year-old has not had another respiratory attack.
The Vatican declined again to give a prognosis.
The pope’s thrombocytopenia – a condition that occurs when the platelet count in the blood is too low – was stable but some blood tests show an initial, mild kidney issue, currently under control, the Holy See said in a statement.
Earlier today, the Vatican said that Pope Francis had a peaceful night in hospital, after describing his condition as “critical” last night.
“The night passed peacefully, the pope rested,” the Holy See said in a short update.
Vatican sources said he was still receiving oxygen through a tube tucked into his nose.
In a statement yesterday evening, it said that the 88-year-old pontiff had suffered a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis” during the morning which required “the application of high-flow oxygen”.
It also said that daily blood tests had showed a condition associated with anemia “which required the administration of blood transfusions”.
“The Holy Father’s condition continues to be critical,” the Vatican said, adding that the pope was “not out of danger”.
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on 14 February with bronchitis, but it turned into pneumonia in both lungs, causing widespread concern for his health.
The pontiff is set to remain in hospital for at least another week, with his doctors telling a press conference on Friday that while there was no imminent risk to his life, he is “not out of danger”.
His hospitalisation has cast doubt over Francis’s ability to continue as head of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics.
But Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin dismissed this as “useless speculation” in an interview published Saturday with Italy’s Corriere della Sera daily.
“Now we are thinking about the health of the Holy Father, his recovery, his return to the Vatican: these are the only things that matter,” the cardinal said.
Parolin said he personally had not yet been to see the pope, saying he was available but so far there was no need.
“It is better if he remains protected and has as few visitors as possible, to allow him to rest and make the treatment he is undergoing more effective,” he added.
The Vatican had already confirmed Francis would not deliver his usual weekly Angelus prayer today. The pontiff has delivered the prayer in the past from the balcony of the Gemelli, where he is staying in a special papal suite on the tenth floor.
In a message published in place of his weekly Angelus prayer, Pope Francis expressed confidence in his treatment. Vatican sources said the text was written in the past few days – likely before the pontiff suffered a respiratory attack yesterday.
“I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment – and rest is also part of the therapy!” the pontiff wrote in the statement.
He also thanked the doctors and health workers at the hospital.
“In recent days I have received many messages of affection, and I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children,” the pope added.
“Thank you for this closeness, and for the prayers of comfort I have received from all over the world! I entrust you all to the intercession of Mary, and I ask you to pray for me.”
Pope Francis, who normally delivers his Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, finishing by asking the crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square below to pray for him.
He usually calls for peace and did so again today, marking the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday.
“Tomorrow will be the third anniversary of the large-scale war against Ukraine: a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity!” he wrote.
“As I reiterate my closeness to the suffering Ukrainian people, I invite you to remember the victims of all armed conflicts, and to pray for the gift of peace in Palestine, Israel and throughout the Middle East, Myanmar, Kivu and Sudan.”
Last Sunday the pontiff also missed his Angelus prayer and the Vatican published a written text instead.
A group of nuns and priests from around the world gathered outside the hospital entrance yesterday to pray for the pope.
They also sang as they stood around the statue of former pope John Paul II, where well-wishers have left candles bearing Francis’s picture.
“We are praying today for the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and our hope is that he will recover well in the Grace of God,” Brazilian priest Don Wellison told AFP.
Francis has said the papacy is a job for life, but has also left the door open to resigning like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who became the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step down in 2013, citing his ailing physical and mental health.
With reporting from AFP
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