The doctors treating Pope Francis at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome have decided to lift the “guarded prognosis”, meaning that the Pontiff, who has been hospitalized for three weeks due to bilateral pneumonia, no longer appears to be in life-threatening danger: “The improvements recorded in previous days have been further consolidated, as confirmed by both blood tests and clinical findings, as well as by the Pope’s good response to pharmacological therapy” according to the Vatican.
“However, given the complexity of the Pope’s clinical picture and the severe infection present at the time of hospitalization, it will still be necessary to continue pharmacological treatment in a hospital setting for a period of time.” In other words, the pneumonia seems to have been overcome after weeks of anxiety, corticosteroids, antibiotics, severe respiratory crises, and the use of oxygen during the day and a ventilation mask at night—standard therapies for respiratory failure, but they had raised concerns about a possible decline.
The news brings joy to all the faithful, from those gathered in prayer outside the large Roman hospital to Catholics worldwide. It also brings relief to those, Catholic or not, who see in this Pope and his constant preaching for peace, for migrants, and for greater social justice, an antidote to the highly complex times we live in—times marked by leaders advocating very different messages.
The news is less welcomed however, by some within the Roman ecclesiastical hierarchy. Bergoglio, the Argentine Pope, never hid his belief that parts of the Curia wants him dead; he stated this explicitly during a trip to Slovakia in 2021 when, in response to the question “How are you?” he replied, “Still alive. Despite some wishing me dead. I know there were even meetings among prelates who thought the Pope was more seriously ill than was being reported. They were preparing for the conclave. Oh well! Thank God, I’m fine…”
At the time, he was referring to his colon surgery at the Gemelli Hospital in 2020. Then too, speculation arose about a possible resignation—an option the Pope has never ruled out if he were to become unable to fulfill his pastoral mission. “Personally, I may deserve attacks and insults because I am a sinner, but the Church does not deserve this: it is the work of the devil,” the Pope added in Bratislava.
This time too, there were rumors galore according to which the Pontiff had already died.
However, Francis is 88 years old, in fragile health, and his joint pain requires him to use a wheelchair. It is possible that he will continue to use the nighttime ventilation mask even after returning to Santa Marta in the Vatican. Since the age of 21, he has had only one fully functioning lung—a part of the other was removed following a severe bout of pneumonia.
In recent weeks, he has been described as “always alert and cooperative,” meaning lucid and able to work. He received visits from Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State. Nevertheless, one thing seems unlikely: his return to traveling. Further international missions will likely be discouraged, as his body is now more susceptible to infections. In January, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, had announced that the Pope would be present in May in Nicaea (now Iznik, in Turkey) to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council. It was also Francis’s wish, during this Jubilee Year, to return to Argentina—his homeland, which he has not visited since 2013.
