Pope Francis had a “good night” as he continues to rest at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for his third week of treatment for double pneumonia, the Vatican said early Thursday.
“The night passed quietly; the Pope is still resting,” the Holy See press office said in a statement posted on X, adding that the Pope’s “clinical condition has remained stable for the last couple of days, and his doctors say he has not had more episodes of respiratory insufficiency.”
The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been stable for two days after suffering a pair of respiratory crises on Monday. Doctors underlined that his prognosis remained guarded due to the complex picture.
In recent days, he has been sleeping with a non-invasive mechanical mask to guarantee that his lungs expand properly overnight and help his recovery. He has been transitioning to receiving oxygen with a nasal tube during the day.
The pope on Wednesday marked the start of Lent by receiving ashes on his forehead and by calling the parish priest in Gaza, the Vatican said. He also added physical therapy to his hospital routine of respiratory therapy.
The Catholic Church opened the solemn Lenten season without the pope’s participation. A cardinal took his place leading a short penitential procession between two churches on the Aventine Hill and opened an Ash Wednesday sermon prepared for the pontiff with words of solidarity and thanks.
On Ash Wednesday, observant Catholics receive a sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads, a gesture that underscores human mortality. It is an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence that signals the start of Christianity’s most penitent season, leading to Easter on April 20.
The pope was supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy. On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in “spiritual communion” with him. The theme, selected before Francis got sick, was “Hope in eternal life.”
