VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis is resting well as he battles double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Wednesday (Feb 26), with an official adding that he is continuing to eat normally and is able to move around his hospital room.
The 88-year-old pope is spending his 13th day at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, the longest hospital stay of his nearly 12-year-old papacy.
“The pope had a tranquil night and is resting,” the Vatican said in a one-sentence statement that did not provide further details.
A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the pope’s condition, said Francis was alert and continuing his treatments, and was able to eat normally and move about his hospital room.
On Tuesday, the Vatican said the pontiff had remained in critical condition for the fourth day running but was stable and had not had any further respiratory crises.
The pope’s prognosis, it said on Tuesday, remains “guarded”. But his hemodynamic parameters, a measure of the functioning of his body’s circulatory system, were also “stable”.
Pope Francis, who has been pope since 2013, is originally from Argentina and is the first Catholic pontiff from the Americas. On Tuesday evening, many in Rome’s Argentinian community gathered at the Our Lady of Sorrows Church to pray for him.
“We pray for his health, that he can continue to govern the Church,” said Reverend Mario Aler, who referred to the ongoing 2025 Catholic Holy Year.
“(Francis) should continue to accompany this important event for the whole Church,” he said.
Paraguay’s ambassador to the Vatican, Romina Taboada Tonina, who was attending the service, called the pope “a great leader, without a doubt”.
“Not only for Catholics, but he is a great political leader as well,” she said.
At the Vatican on Tuesday evening, hundreds gathered in St Peter’s Square for a prayer service attended by pilgrims and senior Church figures. The service is being repeated daily this week.
