Pope Francis is now on his 35th day in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, in stable condition and slowly but surely recovering from pneumonia in both lungs, as his doctors confirmed yesterday, March 19, in their latest medical update.
Given this stability and the improvements his doctors have registered in his condition, they announced that they do not intend to issue further updates until next week unless something unforeseen happens. The Vatican also said its next briefings would be on Friday, March 21, and Monday, March 24.
Yesterday’s report confirmed that the Argentine pope is responding positively to his pharmacological, respiratory and physical therapies. It also contained the encouraging news that doctors were gradually weaning him off the oxygen that he had been receiving at night through non-invasive mechanical ventilation using a mask over his nose and mouth, as well as the high-flow oxygen he has been receiving by day through nasal tubes. They said they had terminated the night dependency on oxygen and were reducing the daytime dependence.
Last week, the pope’s doctors confirmed that he is out of imminent danger, but because of the complexity of his situation, they said he has to remain in the hospital to receive treatment that he can only get there. Yesterday, the Vatican press office reported that his doctors said, “The infection of the lungs is under control, even if not yet totally eliminated.”
Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta, who works in the Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome and is not treating the pope, explained to America that “the total resolution of the infection and the elimination of his total dependence on oxygen would be major steps forward on the road to full recovery.”
Francis, now in the 13th year of his pontificate and with a clear mind, continues to govern the church from his hospital bed. He nominates bishops, makes decisions such as the one regarding the three-year implementation plan (2025-28) for the Synod on Synodality’s final document, and approves texts such as the messages for the Sunday Angelus and the catechesis that he normally would have given at the weekly public Wednesday audience.
Throughout his pontificate, Francis has been a master at bringing the Gospel to life for ordinary people, and frequently does so in his weekly catechesis. Yesterday, he began a new cycle of catecheses that offer his reflections on “some of the encounters narrated in the Gospels, to understand the way Jesus gives hope.” He describes these encounters of Jesus with different people as ones “that enlighten life and bring hope.”
Drawing lessons from those encounters and applying them to the everyday lives of people, Francis said:
It can happen, for example, that someone helps us to see a difficulty or a problem we are experiencing from a different perspective; or it can happen that someone simply gives us a word that makes us feel that we are not alone in the pain we are going through. At times there can even be silent encounters, in which one does not say anything, and yet those moments help us to get back on track.
In the first catechesis in the series, the first Jesuit pope reflected on the encounter of Jesus with Nicodemus, as narrated in Chapter 3 of the Gospel of John. He explained that he decided to start with this encounter “because Nicodemus is a man who, with his history, shows that it is possible to emerge from darkness and find the courage to follow Christ.”
Toward the end of the written reflection, the pope said:
I chose to begin with Nicodemus also because he is a man who, with his very life, shows that this change is possible. Nicodemus is able to do it: in the end he will be among those who go to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus (cf. Jn 19:39)! Nicodemus has finally come to the light, he is reborn, and he no longer needs to stay in the night. Changes sometimes frighten us. On the one hand they attract us, at times we desire them, but on the other we would prefer to remain in comfort. Therefore the Spirit encourages us to face these fears.
From his hospital bed, Pope Francis concluded the catechesis by saying that it is “Only by looking into the face of that which frightens us can we begin to be set free. Nicodemus, like all of us, can look at the Crucified One: the One who defeated death, [which is] the root of all our fears. Let us also lift our gaze to the One they pierced, let us also be met by Jesus. In Him we find the hope to face the changes in our lives and be born again.”
While Francis is recovering in his suite on the 10th floor of Gemelli Hospital, receiving therapies, resting and praying, a steady flow of people—Romans, Jubilee pilgrims and tourists from many lands—come to pray for his recovery at the statue of St. John Paul II that stands in front of the hospital.
Some bring flowers or votive candles and place them at the statue; others bring a drawing or leave a message or letter; almost everyone stands and prays for some minutes, or says the rosary for his recovery. One sees here how much this pope “from the ends of the earth” means to so many people on all continents.
