Pope Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs according to the medical report from his doctors this evening, Feb. 18. It said his clinical condition continues to be “complex.” This latest report would seem to indicate that his condition has deteriorated.
The Vatican report from the pope’s doctors said that “laboratory tests and chest X-rays” carried out on the pope “continue to present a complex picture” of his clinical condition.
“The polymicrobial infection, which has arisen in the context of bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis, and has required the use of corticosteroid and antibiotics, makes the therapeutic treatment more complex,” the Vatican said.
It reported that the pope was subjected to a chest CT scan this afternoon that “demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia that required further drug therapy.”
Bronchitis can lead to pneumonia, which is a deeper and far more serious infection of the lungs’ air sacs. Treatment varies by severity but can include providing oxygen through a nasal tube or mask, intravenous fluids—and treatment of the underlying cause of the infection.
“Nevertheless,” the press release said, “Pope Francis remains in good spirits.” It said he received the Eucharist this morning, and “during the day alternated rest with prayer and reading of texts.”
The Vatican said Pope Francis thanks people for their “closeness” to him, “which he feels in this moment” and “asks with a grateful heart, that they continue to pray for him.”
Earlier in the day, just before 1 p.m., the Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, reported that the pope had spent a fourth “tranquil” night in Gemelli Hospital, and said that “after waking up, he had breakfast, and spent some time reading newspapers, as he regularly does.”
Francis has been in a suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli Hospital since Friday, Feb. 14, when he was admitted after suffering from a bout of bronchitis for some two weeks. Doctors have since discovered that he has “a complex clinical condition” caused by “a polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract” that will require a longer-than-expected hospital stay. They are treating him with pharmacological therapy, and last Saturday prescribed a period of “complete rest.”
As a result of this, the pope could not make his daily telephone call to the parish priest of the Holy Family church in Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, on Sunday, as he had done on Friday and Saturday evening; instead, he sent a message to the priest’s smartphone. He asked how they were, thanked them for their prayers and good wishes and imparted his blessing to them. On Monday evening, he was again able to make a phone call to the priest, asking how they were and thanking them for praying for him.
Francis has not had a fever since Sunday, and a high-ranking Vatican source who wished to remain anonymous told America on Feb. 17 that “the pope is not on oxygen.” He and other Vatican officials said that while there is some concern for “the complex state” of the pope’s health, there was no sense of alarm in the Vatican then.
Francis had cysts on the upper lobe of his right lung removed after a pulmonary infection as a young man and is prone to bouts of bronchitis in winter. He has admitted in the past that he is a non-compliant patient, and even his close Vatican aides have said he pushed himself too far even once his bronchitis was diagnosed.
He refused to let up on his busy schedule and ignored medical advice to stay indoors during Rome’s chilly winter, insisting on sitting through an outdoor Jubilee Mass for the armed forces on Feb. 9 even though he was having trouble breathing.
Francis’ hospital admission this year has already sidelined him for longer than a March 2023 hospitalization for pneumonia.
Francis is currently not receiving any visitors because the doctors have prescribed that he observe “complete rest” to enable the pharmacological treatment to take its full effect in treating the infection of the respiratory tract. The only Vatican officials who are allowed in his suite are his two priest private secretaries.
The Holy See Press Office announced that the pope would not preside at the Mass for the Jubilee of Deacons in St. Peter’s Basilica, scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 23. It also said his two public audiences on Wednesday, Feb. 19, and Saturday, Feb. 22 were canceled.
Pope Francis has received numerous messages of well-wishes and assurances of prayers, as well as drawings and cards from children in the hospital’s pediatric oncology unit. The Vatican on Monday said Francis was “touched by the numerous messages of affection and closeness that he has been receiving.”
The bishops of Argentina, Italy and the United States, to mention a few, have all called on the faithful to pray for the pope’s recovery. America has learned that Catholics in mainland China and Hong Kong are likewise praying for him. And “the grand imam of Al-Alzar, Ahmad al-Tayyeb, is praying daily for Pope Francis’ recovery,” a source close to the imam told America.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
