Pope Francis’ condition has improved compared to yesterday, according to the latest medical bulletin from the Gemelli Hospital, which the Vatican issued just after 7 p.m. Rome time on Sunday evening, Feb. 23.
“He has not had any further respiratory crisis,” but “his overall condition still remains critical,” meaning the pope is not yet “out of danger,” as Sergio Alfieri, the leader of the pope’s medical team, explained at Friday’s press conference. According to today’s bulletin, “the prognosis remains reserved,” the update said. It reported that “the Holy Father continues to be alert and well oriented” and receives “high-flow oxygen through the nasal cannulas” when he needs it.
Yesterday’s medical bulletin described Francis as suffering from “thrombocytopenia associated with anemia.” This evening’s update said that as a result of blood transfusions (“two units of concentrated blood cells”) the pope’s hemoglobin (an oxygen carrier in red blood cells) had increased and the deficiency of platelets in his blood “remained stable.” The Mayo Clinic explains that insufficient hemoglobin can make a person feel weak, because their body is not getting enough oxygen.
At the same time, the evening medical bulletin noted that “some blood tests show an initial, mild, kidney insufficiency.”
It concluded that given “the complexity of the [pope’s] clinical picture” and the need to allow the necessary time for the pharmacological therapies to take effect, “the prognosis remains reserved.”
Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta, who works in the Salvator Mundi hospital and is not treating the pope, told America that both the absence of another respiratory crisis after yesterday’s and the increase in hemoglobin were “good news.” She did not consider the “initial and slight” kidney insufficiency a major problem, saying there could be several reasons for it.
She concluded that the pope’s “overall clinical picture is a little better than yesterday, even if his doctors maintain a ‘reserved prognosis’ because of his critical condition and the need to give the medical therapies the necessary time to take effect and produce positive results.” Yesterday she explained that the “reserved prognosis” means that “the situation is unpredictable and has to be monitored.”
An informed source told America that Dr. Alfieri pointed out during last Friday’s press briefing, “it takes little to change the balance” of Francis’ condition from one day to the next, as happened yesterday with the severe breathing crisis. The source said other crises could occur during the next 10 or more days while Pope Francis undergoes treatment, but that what is important is that his doctors are able to overcome these crises as they did yesterday.
This evening’s Vatican report, based on information from the pope’s medical team, also said that this morning, Pope Francis participated in Mass “together with those who take care of him in these days of hospitalization."
This morning, in a message for the noonday Angelus, Pope Francis said, “I am confidently continuing my hospitalization at the Gemelli Hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment” and “rest is also part of the therapy!”
“I sincerely thank the doctors and health workers of this hospital for the attention they are showing me and the dedication with which they carry out their service among the sick,” he added.
The Vatican reported earlier this morning that Francis had spent “a peaceful and restful” ninth night on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital. This good news brought relief after the alarming update last evening that Francis had experienced a serious breathing crisis on Saturday morning and had to be given a significant amount of “high-flow oxygen” and blood transfusions due to low platelets and anemia.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, told journalists that the medical report published last evening that said the pope was in critical condition and “not out of danger” is the only recent medical information on the pope’s current state of health. He announced that another medical report will be released this evening around 7.00 p.m., which will also give the results of the tests his doctors have carried out on him this morning.
An informed Vatican source said the 88-year-old pope was receiving oxygen through nasal cannula this morning, but is not permanently on oxygen. Based on last night’s medical report, he added, it appears that the severe breathing crisis that Francis experienced on Saturday morning (Feb. 22) has been overcome. He said the pope is not sedated. He is seated in an armchair and eating normally.
As last Sunday, Pope Francis did not deliver the Angelus address but again sent a message to the faithful worldwide from his hospital bed and asked people to pray for him.
“In recent days,” he wrote, “I have received many messages of affection, and I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children. 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 in his message sought to draw the world’s attention to the armed conflicts being waged in many countries.
He recalled that tomorrow, Feb. 24, will be “the third anniversary of the large-scale war against Ukraine.” He described that war as “a painful and shameful occasion for the whole of humanity” and said, “I reiterate my closeness to the suffering Ukrainian people.”
At the same time, he said, “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.”
In the Angelus message, Pope Francis also sent greetings to the 4,000 deacons gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica this morning for the Mass for their Jubilee celebration during which some candidates were ordained to the diaconate. The deacons came from over a hundred countries, including the United States, France, Brazil, India, Cameroon and Australia.
“Dear brother Deacons,” he told them, “you dedicate yourselves to the Word and to the service of charity; you carry out your ministry in the Church with words and deeds, bringing God’s love and mercy to everyone. I urge you to continue your apostolate with joy and—as today’s Gospel suggests—to be a sign of a love that embraces everyone, that transforms evil into goodness and engenders a fraternal world. Do not be afraid to risk love!”
At the request of the pope, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided at the solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Jubilee of Deacons. He read the homily that the pope had intended to deliver at this celebration.
He told the thousands of deacons from around the world, “Although Pope Francis is in bed in [the] hospital, we feel he is close to us and is present in our midst.” He added, “This obliges us to make our prayers even more intense so that the Lord may assist him in this moment of difficulty and illness.”
This morning, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the pope’s vicar general for the diocese of Rome, invited Catholics to a Mass in the Basilica of St. John Lateran at 5:30 p.m. this evening “to raise our prayers to the Lord for the Holy Father, that He may sustain him with His grace and fill him with the necessary strength to get through this difficult moment.”
As concern grew for the health of the pope, Catholics and other believers have been praying for Francis, from the Philippines, India, China and Hong Kong, to Canada, the United States and throughout the churches of Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Update 02/23/2025 3:09 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include the evening medical bulletin.
