Pope Francis shows slight improvement, resumes some work, says Vatican

Pope Francis remained in critical condition on Monday (February 24) but showed slight improvement in laboratory tests and resumed some work activities, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began, the Vatican said.The Vatican’s evening bulletin was more upbeat than in recent days, as the 88-year-old Francis battles pneumonia in both lungs. It said he hadn’t had any more respiratory crises since Saturday (February 22) and that the supplemental oxygen that he was using continued but with a slightly reduced oxygen flow and concentrations.

The slight kidney insufficiency detected on Sunday was not causing alarm at the moment, doctors said, while saying his prognosis remained guarded.

He received the Eucharist in the morning and resumed working in the afternoon.“In the evening he called the parish priest of the Gaza parish to express his fatherly closeness,” the statement said.

For over a year, Francis has checked in daily via videocall with the Argentine priest, the Rev Gabriel Romanelli, who leads the Catholic community at the church, which during Israel’s war had served as a shelter for Palestinians. Romanelli had reported hearing from Francis soon after he was hospitalised, but not since. He had sent Francis a video, and the pope called to thank him, the Vatican said.Earlier on Monday, the Vatican had announced the start of nighttime prayers for the pope’s health in St Peter’s Square, and invited Romans and others to join in. The Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, planned to lead the first prayer on Monday evening.

Francis was in good spirits, was not in pain and was not receiving artificial nutrition, the Vatican said. The work he was doing included reading and signing documents, and indeed the Vatican’s daily noon bulletin has included new bishop nominations nearly every day, even though most were decided in advance.

At the Gemelli hospital, where Francis has been since Feb 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened, the mood was nevertheless grim. Bishop Claudio Giuliodori presided over an emotional, standing-room-only Mass in the chapel named for St John Paul II, who was hospitalised there many times; Some of the estimated 200 people who attended were in white doctor’s coats or green surgical scrubs; some knelt in prayer.

“We are very sorry. Pope Francis is a good pope, let’s hope that he makes it. Let us hope,” said a choked-up Filomena Ferraro, who was visiting a relative at Gemelli on Monday. “We are joining him with our prayers but what else can we do?” Doctors have said Francis’ condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease. They have warned that the main threat facing Francis is sepsis, a serious infection that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.

To date, there has been no reference to any onset of sepsis in the medical updates provided by the Vatican.

At 10 full days, this hospitalisation now stands as Francis’ longest as pope. He spent 10 days at Rome’s Gemelli hospital in 2021 after he had 33 cm (13 inches) of his colon removed.