March 1, 2:30 p.m.: Pope Francis’ clinical condition ‘remains stable’
Pope Francis’ clinical condition “remains stable” and is better than yesterday, according to the latest medical report from his doctors in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, which the Vatican released just before 7 p.m. on the evening of March 1.
“He is alternating between non-invasive mechanical ventilation and long periods of supplemental high-flow oxygenation, maintaining a good response to gas exchange,” it said. In other words, he did not always use mechanical ventilation.
The medical update mentioned other positive elements: The pope “does not have a fever and shows no leukocytosis [high white blood cell count].” Furthermore, it added, his various blood “parameters have always remained stable.”
Pope Francis “continued to eat on his own,” it said, and he “has regularly undergone respiratory physiotherapy, in which he cooperates actively.”
The medical update noted that the pope did not have any other “episodes of bronchospasm” such as he had yesterday afternoon.
The medical report said Pope Francis “remains alert and oriented,” and in the afternoon, he received the Eucharist and then dedicated himself to prayer.
The report concluded that his doctors continue to maintain a “guarded” prognosis.
An informed Vatican source said, “Today’s bulletin is more reassuring than yesterday’s,” but the doctors remain cautious and maintain “a guarded prognosis.” In the report, he said the doctors appear to have taken into account the consequences of yesterday’s crisis. He said they mentioned the lack of “leukocytosis,” that is, an increase in white blood cells, which happens with infection. He said the pope “did not work today,” but “he spent 20 minutes in the chapel. He can move, but he naturally needed to be assisted to get to the chapel.” He said that “the pope was in good humor.”
Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta, who works in the Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome and is not treating the pope, told America that according to the medical report, “Pope Francis’ situation is stable and better than it was yesterday.” She underlined that the “white blood cells” are normal and said, “That’s a good sign.” Moreover, she said, the fact that he is alternating between the mechanical ventilation and the high-flow oxygen “is another good sign.”
While noting that the doctors have rightly kept “a guarded prognosis,” she concluded: “I do not see a problematic situation like yesterday [when he had the bronchial spasm]. Today, his condition is stable and improved in comparison to yesterday. And that’s good news.”
March 1, 8:20 a.m. EST: Pope Francis had a ‘quiet night’ after yesterday’s bronchial spasm
“After a quiet night, the Pope is resting,” the Holy See Press Office said Saturday morning, March 1, after Pope Francis’ 16th night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. He woke up this morning, drank coffee and read some newspapers as usual.
An informed Vatican source said he did not have another bronchial spasm during the night; yesterday’s spasm was “an isolated episode” and “was related to the bronchi, not to the stomach.” It was not caused by something he had eaten, the source said.
On that occasion, the source said, “He coughed and inhaled what he coughed,” and this had to be aspirated, that is, removed from his lungs. The pope’s respiratory condition worsened following this isolated bronchospasm, and his doctors promptly started him on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, to which he responded positively. As a result of that ventilation, “the gas exchange values are reported to have returned to levels similar to those before the episode.”
Yesterday, Vatican sources said it would take 24 to 48 hours for the doctors to assess the pope’s clinical condition following the isolated bronchospasm. They want to see if yesterday’s crisis has caused a new infection in the lung called “pneumonia by inhalation.” This is his 16th day in the Gemelli Hospital, where he is being treated for double pneumonia, and his condition is frail.
Throughout the world, people are praying for the pope’s recovery. Last evening in St. Peter’s Square, the Argentine cardinal Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presided at the recitation of the evening Rosary, attended by many cardinals, Romans and pilgrims from many countries. He introduced the Rosary by saying: “Let us pray for the health of the pope. And certainly he would like that our prayer be not only for him, but also for all those who, in this dramatic and painful moment of the world, bear the heavy weight of war, poverty and sickness.”
America has learned that in Venezuela last weekend, many poor people in churches were praying for the pope’s health and are imploring the intercession of José Gregorio Hernández, the lay doctor of the poor for whose canonization Francis gave the final approval from his hospital bed last Monday, when he received the two top officials from from the Holy See’s Secretariat of State. Some of these poor people made an image of the saint-to-be pushing Pope Francis in his wheelchair.
A constant stream of well-wishers come at all hours of the day to pray for Pope Francis at the statue of St. John Paul II that stands in front of Gemelli Hospital, where photos of the Jesuit pope have been placed, together with flowers and lighted candles.
Among those who came there this Saturday morning was Patrick, from the United States. He told America: “I came here to be close to Pope Francis for my emotional solace following these recent health scares. After several years of living in Rome, I’ve discovered that physical closeness nurtures a unique spiritual richness, especially at the tomb of St. Peter, but also at those of the other apostles and of other saints and holy men and women. This physical nearness is an important element of the Jubilee. I join all the well-wishers in praying for the pope’s full recovery.”
On this day, too, the Spanish cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., a friend of the pope, turned 80 and so lost the right to vote in the next conclave, thereby reducing the number of cardinal-electors to 137 from 71 countries.
Since up to now the cardinal was president of the commission of cardinals that governs the Vatican City State, he also resigns that post today and hands over this important role to Sister Raffaela Petrini, an Italian nun whom Pope Francis has appointed as the first woman governor of the Vatican City State. The Vatican is expected to publish a medical bulletin with further updates about the pope’s condition this evening.
