The Vatican mentioned Monday night that Pope Francis had suffered “two episodes of acute respiratory failure” over the course of the day, which it mentioned had been attributable to “vital accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm.”
The assertion mentioned docs carried out two bronchoscopies to alleviate his respiratory misery.
In its early Tuesday replace, the Vatican mentioned: “The pope slept by way of the night time, now relaxation continues.”
The Vatican mentioned Monday that, “Within the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical air flow was resumed,” noting that Francis remained alert and conscious and that his prognosis after greater than two weeks of hospitalization for bronchitis that deteriorated into pneumonia in each lungs remained “guarded.”
The pope, who’s 88 and has an extended historical past of pulmonary bother, has struggled to recover from this sickness, resulting in the longest hospitalization of his preach.
Earlier than spending a restful weekend without any crises, Francis skilled a “sudden worsening of the respiratory picture” on Friday, the Vatican mentioned, when he had a single “remoted disaster of bronchospasm,” which is when the muscle tissues that line the airways within the lungs tighten.
That episode brought about the pope to inhale vomit, the Vatican mentioned in an announcement. Francis was handled with noninvasive mechanical air flow and had a very good response, the Vatican mentioned Friday.
Not lengthy earlier than the Vatican revealed his Friday bronchospasm, Vatican sources informed CBS Information the pope’s well being had improved, saying he was not in important situation after precisely two weeks in hospital.
The bilateral pneumonia analysis given to the pope on February 18 would have been a worrying flip for any affected person of his age, nevertheless it was of explicit concern for the chief of the Catholic Church.
That is the pope’s fourth hospitalization since he took over management of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013. He underwent vital abdominal surgery in 2021 after which had one other process in 2023 to restore scar tissue and an belly hernia. He had been hospitalized briefly for remedy for pneumonia earlier that year.
As a younger man in his residence nation of Argentina, Francis had a part of one lung eliminated following a pulmonary an infection, which left him susceptible to respiratory diseases.
The Vatican introduced earlier this month that Francis would not have a good time Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica this yr, as a result of his ongoing restoration. The pope’s ongoing hospitalization comes simply forward of the beginning of the annual Christian observance of Lent. The 40-day Lenten interval begins on Ash Wednesday, which this yr falls on March 5.
Simply earlier than Easter final yr, Francis declined to attend a Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum in a bid to preserve his well being, however the pope later led tens of hundreds of worshipers in Easter celebrations.
