Despite ‘critical’ condition, pope is working from hospital room

by Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ “clinical condition remains critical but stable” and the “prognosis remains guarded,” the Vatican’s evening bulletin said Feb. 25.

The 88-year-old pope, who has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14, has had no recurrence of “acute respiratory episodes,” the Vatican said.

The “hemodynamic parameters” that measure heart health “continue to be stable,” the bulletin said.

In the evening, Pope Francis underwent the third CT scan of his hospitalization to monitor his double pneumonia, it said.

A source said the results of the CT scan were not expected until the next day and specified that the pope’s “stable” condition included the “mild renal insufficiency” that the pope’s doctors had reported Feb. 23 but that they said was “under control” by the next evening.

“In the morning, after receiving the Eucharist, he resumed work,” the bulletin also said.

In a sign affirming that Pope Francis has been able to work while in the hospital, the Vatican said earlier Feb. 25 that the pope had signed several decrees regarding sainthood causes the previous day during a meeting at the hospital with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute secretary of state.

The announcement followed a typically brief morning update on the health of the 88-year-old pope, which said, “The pope rested well, all night.”

Hours after visiting Pope Francis in the hospital, Cardinal Parolin led the recitation of the rosary in St. Peter’s Square, praying for the pope and his health. Some two dozen cardinals joined the nighttime prayer, along with officials of the Roman Curia and hundreds of Catholics from Rome and around the world.

The 9 p.m. rosary will be a fixed appointment, the Vatican said. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, was scheduled to lead the prayer Feb. 25.