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Pope Francis, battling a severe case of pneumonia in both lungs, has shown some signs of improvement, the Vatican confirmed on Monday. However, officials cautioned that his condition remains serious, and doctors are withholding any predictions about his recovery.
The Vatican, addressing global anxieties over the 88-year-old pontiff’s health, stated in its evening report that while his condition remains serious, doctors have observed a “slight improvement.”
“Today there were no episodes of asthmatic respiratory attacks; some laboratory tests have improved,” it said, noting that Francis had worked in the afternoon after receiving the Eucharist in the morning.
Under the evening sky of St. Peter’s Square, a few hundred worshippers gathered alongside senior clergy to pray for Pope Francis. The rosary, led by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, reflected the deep concern for the pontiff, who has led the Church since 2013.
Pope Francis was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome on February 14 following difficulties with breathing. What began as bronchitis soon progressed into double pneumonia, raising concerns over his health.
Read also: Pope Francis Is In A Critical Condition – Vatican Reports
Oxygen that has been administered in recent days was given Monday “with slightly reduced flows and percentage of oxygen,” the Vatican said.
It cautioned, however, that “considering the complexity of the clinical picture” doctors declined to “decide on the prognosis”.
Francis’s medical team have said the drug treatments he is undergoing will take time to show an effect, and on Friday they warned he would remain in hospital for this entire week, at the very least.
The Vatican has been issuing twice-daily updates on the pope, and earlier Monday said he spent a peaceful night. A Vatican source added that the Jesuit was “not in pain”, was eating “normally” and was even “in a good mood”.
In the evening he called the priest in the Gaza parish, the Vatican said.
The longest hospitalisation of Francis’s near 12-year papacy has brought an outpouring of support for the pontiff, with prayers said around the world and tributes left outside the hospital.
US President Donald Trump, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House, said, “It’s a very serious situation but we do want him to get well if that’s possible.”
