Pope Francis had peaceful night after respiratory crisis, the Vatican says

Pope Francis, in critical condition with a complex lung infection, rested well during a peaceful night, the Vatican said Sunday, but it is all still touch-and-go given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni’s one-line statement early Sunday didn’t mention if Francis was out of bed or eating breakfast. “The night passed quietly, the pope rested.”

The brief update came hours after doctors said the 88-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, was in critical condition after he suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis.

Francis has been hospitalized for a week while being treated for pneumonia and a complex lung infection. He was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Feb. 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.

On Saturday, the pope received “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe as well as blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said in a late update.

The Saturday statement also said the pontiff “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday.” Doctors said the prognosis was “reserved.”

“We feel Pope Francis close to us”

Francis was supposed to have celebrated Mass on Sunday morning in St. Peter’s Basilica and ordained hundreds of deacons as part of the Vatican’s yearlong Holy Year commemoration.

The organizer of the Holy Year, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, celebrated the Mass in his place and offered a special prayer for Francis from the altar before delivering the homily the pope had prepared.

“Even though he is in a hospital bed, we feel Pope Francis close to us, we feel him present among us,” Fisichella told the hundreds of white-robed deacons. “And this compels us to make even stronger and more intense our prayer that the Lord will assist him in his time of trial and illness.

The Deacons Jubilee, a day of the Holy Year dedicated to deacons, will attract over 6,000 pilgrims from about 100 countries to Rome.

Vatican hierarchy tamps down resignation speculation

Meanwhile, the Vatican hierarchy went on the defensive to tamp down rumors and speculation that Francis might decide to resign. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated. Francis has said that he has written a letter of resignation that would be invoked if he were medically incapable of making such a decision.

In an interview with CBS News in May 2024, Francis said the idea of stepping down has never occurred to him.

“Maybe if the day comes when my health can go no further,” Francis said. “Perhaps because the only infirmity I have is in my knee, and that is getting much better. But it never occurred to me.”

Francis, took on the papacy in 2013 at the age of 76, after his predecessor, Benedict XVI, became the first pope to retire in about 600 years, citing his declining health before stepping down. He died in 2022 at age 95.

The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, gave a rare interview to Corriere della Sera to respond to speculation and rumors about a possible resignation. It came after the Vatican issued an unusual and official denial of an Italian media report that said Parolin and the pope’s chief canonist had visited Francis in the hospital in secret. Given the canonical requirements to make a resignation legitimate, the implications of such a meeting were significant, but the Vatican flat-out denied that any such meeting occurred.

Parolin said such speculation seemed “useless” when what really mattered was the health of Francis, his recovery and return to the Vatican.

“On the other hand, I think it is quite normal that in these situations uncontrolled rumors can spread or some misplaced comment is uttered. It is certainly not the first time it has happened,” Parolin was quoted as saying. “However, I don’t think there is any particular movement, and so far I haven’t heard anything like that.”