While there are currently no direct impacts to Pope Francis’ health from the respiratory episode on Friday, doctors are continuing to guard the pope’s prognosis, according to Vatican sources Sunday who said the “picture is still complex” and that the “risk of crisis” remains.
The 88-year-old pontiff suffered a sudden episode of respiratory difficulty on Friday, which was complicated by vomiting, and required high-flow oxygen through a mask to help him breathe. He was not intubated, a Vatican source told CNN at the time.
“In a complex picture there can be crises like the one he had on Friday,” Vatican sources said Sunday, adding that he is back to receiving high flows of oxygen through nose cannulas.
According to the Vatican sources, it is unclear how much longer Francis will remain in hospital. In a new update on Monday morning, the Vatican said the pope “rested well” throughout the night.
The previous day the Vatican said the “Holy Father’s clinical condition remained stable,” that he no longer required the use of mechanical ventilation to breathe and and he received “high-flow oxygen therapy.” He also took part in Holy Mass.
Vatican sources said he followed his usual routine of having coffee and reading the newspapers before continuing his treatment.
Francis was also visited at the hospital on Sunday by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the papal chief of staff, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
Bruni said Sunday’s Angelus prayer, which the pope is believed to have written in the last few days, was the pontiff’s way of expressing his feeling of closeness to the people and feeling carried by their prayer.
In a text released for his Angelus prayer earlier on Sunday from the hospital, the pope appealed for peace, saying: “from here, war appears even more absurd. Let us pray for tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and Kivu.”
He also described his frailty as a blessing and his illness as an “opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.”
Pope Francis was in a good mood on Saturday, and was able to move and walk – sometimes with assistance – and could eat solid food, according to the Vatican sources a day after the respiratory episode.
Francis was first admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital more than two weeks ago, after being plagued by a string of lung-related medical struggles, including bronchitis and then pneumonia. His current hospitalization is his fourth, and now longest, stay since he became pope in 2013.
The pontiff has suffered from lung-related issues for much of his life. As a young man, he suffered from severe pneumonia and had part of one lung removed.
The Vatican has been releasing twice daily updates on the pope’s health.
The Argentinian leader’s schedule has been cleared to accommodate his intensive medical treatment.
The pope did not lead the Angelus prayer on Sunday, for the third week in a row.
He also will not lead the Ash Wednesday service, which marks the start of Lent, for only the second time in his 12-year papacy, according to the Vatican. A cardinal is expected to lead the service instead.
On Friday night while praying for the pope, Argentinian Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández said: “Certainly it is close to the Holy Father’s heart that our prayers be not only for him, but also for all those who, in this particular dramatic and suffering moment of the world, bear the heavy burden of war, sickness, and poverty.”
This story has been updated.
