Pope Francis Has Peaceful Ninth Night in the Hospital

| 02/23/2025

On Sunday morning, the Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis had a peaceful ninth night in Rome’s Gemelli hospital where he is being treated for double pneumonia

Nuns pray in front of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital February 22, 2025, where Pope Francis is admitted for treatment.
Nuns pray in front of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital February 22, 2025, where Pope Francis is admitted for treatment. The 88-year-old pontiff was in critical condition Feb. 22 after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection, the Vatican said. (OSV News photo/Vincenzo Livieri, Reuters)

Pope Francis had a peaceful ninth night in the hospital, the Holy See Press Office published on Sunday morning, issuing its latest note to journalists as the Holy Father is being treated for double pneumonia at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

Saturday night, the Press Office issued the following evening health update on the Holy Father:

“The condition of the Holy Father continues to be critical. Therefore, as explained yesterday, the Pope is not out of danger. This morning, Pope Francis experienced an asthma-like respiratory crisis of prolonged intensity, which required the administration of high-flow oxygen.

“Today’s blood tests also revealed thrombocytopenia, associated with anemia, which required the administration of blood transfusions.

“The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, although he is more fatigued than yesterday. At the moment, the prognosis remains guarded.”

At a press conference in Rome’s Gemelli hospital on late Friday afternoon, Dr Sergio Alfieri, the head of the team taking care of the Pope, and Dr Luigi Carbone, the Vice-Director of the Vatican’s healthcare service, spoke for some forty minutes to a roomful of journalists.

The pair said that they believed the Pope would be hospitalised for “at least” the entirety of the next week, and that Pope Francis is not “in danger of death,” but he’s also not fully “out of danger.”

Dr. Alfieri emphasised that the Pope is not attached to a ventilator, although he is still struggling with his breathing and consequently keeping his physical movements limited.

Nevertheless, the physician said, the Pope is sitting upright in a chair, working, and joking as usual. Alfieri said that when one of the doctors greeted the Pope by saying “Hello, Holy Father”, he replied with “Hello, Holy Son”.

Asked by a journalist what their greatest fear is, the doctors noted that there is a risk that germs in the Pope’s respiratory tract might enter his bloodstream, causing sepsis.

Dr. Alfieri did say, however, that he was confident that Pope Francis would leave the hospital at some point and return to Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican – with the proviso that when he does so, his chronic respiratory issues will remain.

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