Pope Francis not in danger of death, medical team says

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who is being treated in hospital for double pneumonia, is not in danger of death, but has not been fully cured and his condition could yet change, one of his doctors said on Friday.
“If the question is ‘is he out of danger’ the answer is ‘no’,” Sergio Alfieri told a press conference. “But if you then ask us if at this moment his life is in danger, the answer is (also) ‘no’,” he added.

Francis is being treated at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican has described the pope’s infection as “complex” because it is polymicrobial, meaning it is being caused by two or more micro-organisms.

‘I may not survive’, Pope Francis tells confidants

His medical team said the pope was able to get out of bed and sit in an armchair to do some work, but predicted that he would remain in hospital “at least” through the coming next week.

Alfieri, on the medical staff at Gemelli, said that given the pope was 88, with prior health concerns, he was obviously a fragile patient.

He told reporters that the pope did not have sepsis, a potentially life-threatening condition when the body responds to an infection by harming its own tissue and organs.

However, Alfieri said the pope was still at risk that his infection could spread from his respiratory tract to other parts of his body.

Friday’s press conference was the first with the medical team since the pope was admitted to hospital last week. No photos of Francis have been released out of respect for the pontiff’s privacy, Alfieri said.

The doctors comments came after the Vatican said on Thursday evening that the pope’s condition was “slightly improving” for the second day in a row.

RESIGNATION A ‘DISTANT HYPOTHESIS’

Francis, who has been pope since 2013, has suffered bouts of ill health in the past two years. He is particularly prone to lung infections because as a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.

One retired Catholic cardinal suggested on Thursday that Francis’ fragile health could lead the pope to resign as leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, as his late predecessor Pope Benedict XVI did.

But Francis has firmly ruled out resigning in the past, calling it in 2024 only a “distant hypothesis”. Church law also requires that any papal resignation be “freely and properly manifested”, meaning a pope’s decision to step down cannot be influenced in any way by outside pressure.

Francis is known for keeping a brisk schedule, sometimes holding dozens of meetings a day. Vatican officials expect his latest health crisis may lead him to slow down the pace a bit.

All the pope’s public engagements have been cancelled through Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican’s published calendar.