March 5, 4 p.m. EST: Pope Francis remains in stable condition in Rome Hospital
Pope Francis remains in stable condition without any further episodes of respiratory insufficiency, according to a reassuring medical update from his doctors in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican said around 7:30 p.m. on this Ash Wednesday, March 5.
“As scheduled, during the day, he received high-flow oxygen therapy, but he will resume non-invasive mechanical ventilation tonight,” it said of his 21st night in the hospital.
“The Holy Father has increased respiratory physiotherapy and active motor therapy” and “he spent the day in an armchair,” the medical report said.
His doctors have concluded, however, that “given the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains guarded,” meaning they do not consider him out of danger yet.
Further, the report said, “This morning, in his private apartment on the 10th floor [of the Gemelli Hospital], the Holy Father participated in the rite of blessing the Holy Ashes that were imposed on him by the celebrant, and then received the Eucharist.” A source said one of the Gemelli chaplains did the Ash Wednesday celebration.
It also revealed that “afterward, he dedicated himself to some work activities.” This morning, Pope Francis also called the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza. He has made telephone calls almost every day to this parish—including from the hospital—since the Israeli military campaign in Gaza started in response to the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a total of more than 450 calls.
Today’s update from the hospital concluded by saying that “in the afternoon he alternated rest with work.”
An informed Vatican source said that the doctors are treating “the ordinary development of the pneumonia” but “it takes time” and how long this takes varies from patient to patient. From the medical point of view, he said, “the pope’s condition is stable within a complex situation.” He added that “it is premature to say if the therapy is functioning, and for this reason the doctors insist on a guarded prognosis.” Doctors are doing the motor physiotherapy because they want the pope to move around after 20 days in the hospital. He concluded that Pope Francis “continues to be in good humor” and “collaborates in what the doctors ask of him.”
Commenting on today’s medical report, Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta, who works in the Salvator Mundi international hospital in Rome and is not treating the pope, told America, “His situation is the same as yesterday, except for the fact that he did ‘active motor physiotherapy,’ which was not mentioned in past medical bulletins.” She explained that this could involve “active movements and maybe even walking.” Apart from that, she said, “he continues with the high flow oxygen by day,” presumably with cannula (nasal tubes), and “the non-invasive mechanical ventilation,” meaning he wears a mask over his nose and mouth at night.
Dr. Bilotta concluded that “although his doctors do not say so, and retain a guarded prognosis, he seems to be picking up. One can say it was a positive day for the pope because of the increased respiratory physiotherapy and active motor therapy.”
March 5, 9 a.m. EST: Pope Francis slept well with a ventilation mask during his 20th night in the hospital
Pope Francis “rested well” during his 20th night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital and “woke up after 8 a.m.,” the Vatican said at 8:30 a.m. on Ash Wednesday, March 5.
He was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 and is receiving treatment for double pneumonia. The latest medical update from the hospital on March 4 reported that his overall clinical condition remains stable and that he did not experience any more episodes of respiratory insufficiency or bronchial spasms. It said he “does not have a fever,” a sign that the inflammation and infection are controlled. This medical update, like previous ones, reported that the 88-year-old pope is “alert, oriented and collaborative with the therapies.” At the same time, his doctors continue to maintain “a guarded prognosis,” which means they do not consider him to be out of danger yet.
An informed Vatican source confirmed that the pope’s heart is strong, his blood measures and kidney function are normal and that the pope maintains his good humor. He said his situation “is as it was last night, stable in a complex condition”; there have not been any more unforeseen episodes or crises with his breathing since the pope experienced two respiratory crises on Monday. He slept through the night with the mask over his nose and mouth for non-invasive mechanical ventilation, and this morning, he switched to high-flow oxygen therapy through a nasal tube and continued with the medical treatment and respiratory physiotherapy.
Later this evening, when we get the medical update, the source said we will learn whether the pope did any work today and if he received the ashes for the start of the Lenten season.
This morning, the Vatican released the written text of the catechesis on “The childhood of Jesus,” which it said Pope Francis had prepared before he went to the hospital and would have given at today’s public audience. It also released the text of the homily for the Ash Wednesday Mass in the Basilica of Santa Sabina, which the Vatican said he had also prepared long before he was hospitalized. The homily will be read this afternoon on the pope’s behalf at that Mass, celebrated by the Italian cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the major penitentiary of the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, 85, the long-time private secretary of St. John Paul II, believes that Pope Francis, like his Polish predecessor, will remain as pope to the end of his life. In an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica, published today, he said: “One does not get down from the Cross of Christ. Never. St. John Paul II taught us this; he did not do it after the serious attempt on his life in 1981, much less did he do it 24 years later when illness forced him to remain in bed to the very end, without voice, without being able to speak, without strength, serving the church with his heart and with a lucid mind.”
“And,” he said, “I am sure that Pope Francis, for whose recovery the whole world is praying, will do the same. He will guide the church for as long as God wants, remaining firmly embraced to the cross, without stepping back from it.”
La Repubblica asked the Polish cardinal what he thought about those in Rome who are saying Pope Francis might resign given his state of health. He responded by recalling that “20 years ago, rumors about possible papal resignation were circulating inside and outside the Holy See,” but John Paul II “served the church to the end from the bedroom of the apartment in the Apostolic Palace.”
“Pope Francis is doing the same thing from the Gemelli. We wish to believe that he will never give up,” he said. “Like Wojtyla, Bergoglio knows that the Cross of Christ is never abandoned and that everything is in the hands of the Lord. And he is demonstrating this to us with admirable strength and an inexhaustible will to serve. We can only be deeply grateful to him because not only the Church but the whole world needs him."
Referring to Francis’ battle in the hospital against double pneumonia, Cardinal Dziwisz said:
The evil that grips him has not yet been eradicated. And there is no shortage of moments of crisis, as we learn from the daily [medical] bulletins. From afar, we don't know more. But we know that the whole world is rallying around our pope with warmth and affection. In churches, convents, retreat centers, but also individuals, millions are praying for his recovery with the same intensity with which the Christians of the first community of Jerusalem prayed during the days of St. Peter's imprisonment [in Rome]. It is the whole Church that symbolically stands next to Pope Francis' bed in prayer and with the hope that divine grace can restore his health.
From his hospital bed, the cardinal said: “Our Pope invokes the gift of peace every day. Although he cannot speak in public, his voice rises loud and clear over a world ravaged by clashes and conflicts. It is a voice that we are sure will continue to be heard, even from the confines of the hospital and also when he returns to the Vatican, to his residence in Santa Marta.”
He concluded: “Francis is not only our father, he is the highest moral figure who cares about the fate of all humanity. The whole world needs him. Let us pray that God will grant him the gift of healing and give us the gift of healing.”
As the Polish cardinal mentioned, millions of people across the world, including Catholics, Christians and the followers of other religions or no religion, are praying for the pope’s recovery. For the ninth consecutive evening, the Rosary was recited in St. Peter’s Square on March 4, led by Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and joined by many cardinals, bishops, priests, women and men religious, and hundreds of Romans and pilgrims from many countries. He introduced the Marian prayer, saying, "Brothers and sisters, this evening, with the recitation of the Rosary, we invoke Mary, Health of the Sick, for the health of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.”
