Pope Francis 'is not out of danger', his doctor admits as he reveals pontiff 'wants his condition reported to the world without hiding anything'
Pope Francis 'is not out of danger', his medical team revealed today after spending a week in hospital with pneumonia and chronic bronchitis.The pontiff's doctors delivered their first in-person update on his condition, saying he will remain in hospital at least all of next week.And the Pope 'wants his condition reported to the world without hiding anything', his doctors said during the Press conference on Friday.The 88-year-old has been undergoing treatment at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties.His doctor revealed that his condition is not life-threatening but the Pope's condition can change day by day.It will be up to the pontiff to decide whether he will lead the weekly public prayer at the Vatican this Sunday. Francis marked the one-week point on Friday, getting out of bed to eat breakfast. Pope Francis, who is being treated in hospital for double pneumonia, is not in danger of death but is not yet cured, his doctor has revealed. Pictured above is the last time the pontiff was photographed, on February 14, 2025 'Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is "is he in danger of death", the answer is "no",' his doctor Sergio Alfieri said on FridayDoctor Sergio Alfieri said: 'Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is "is he in danger of death", the answer is "no".'The Vatican reported a 'slight improvement' in his overall clinical condition, with his heart said to be working well. But it will still take some time to understand if the various drug therapies are working, and outside doctors have said that regardless, recovery from pneumonia in such a fragile patient could take up to two weeks.Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a brief update yesterday that the Pope had slept well and had breakfast while seated in an armchair. According to the one-line morning bulletin, 'The night went well, this morning Pope Francis got up and had breakfast.' Pictured above is the last time the pontiff was photographed, on February 14, 2025 His doctor revealed today that although his condition is not life-threatening, Francis will remain in hospital 'at least all next week'Francis received a visit on Wednesday from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, his first known VIP visitor in hospital. She said he was 'alert and responsive'.The Pope joked with Meloni about some people betting on his death, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported on Thursday. 'He hasn't lost his proverbial sense of humour,' Meloni said in a statement.Doctors have diagnosed a complex respiratory infection, involving bacteria, virus and other organisms and the onset of pneumonia in both lungs on top of asthmatic bronchitis. They prescribed 'absolute rest'.As his hospital stay drags on, some of Francis' cardinals have begun responding to the obvious question circulating: whether Francis might resign if he becomes irreversibly sick and unable to carry on. Francis has said he would consider it, after Pope Benedict XVI 'opened the door' to popes retiring, but he has shown no signs of stepping down and in fact has asserted recently that the job of pope is for life.But the question is now in the air, ever since Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to retire when he concluded in 2013 that he didn't have the physical strength to carry on.'Everything is possible,' said Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, the archbishop of Marseille, France, when asked Thursday. A nun prays at a statue of Pope St. John Paul II outside Gemelli University Hospital, where Pope Francis is hospitalized for bronchitis treatmentAnother cardinal, Gianfranco Ravasi, suggested it was more than just a possibility.'There is no question that if he (Francis) was in a situation where his ability to have direct contact (with people) as he likes to do ... was compromised, then I think he might decide to resign,' Ravasi was quoted as telling RTL 102.5 radio.Francis confirmed in 2022 that, shortly after being elected pontiff, he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impeded him from carrying out his duties. There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitated.But there is no indication Francis is in any way incapacitated or is even considering stepping aside. During his hospital stay, he has continued to work, including making bishop appointments. After a hospital stay in 2021, he bristled when he learned that some clergy were allegedly already preparing for a conclave to elect his successor.Francis had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winter.Doctors say pneumonia in such a fragile, elderly patient makes him particularly prone to complications given the difficulty in being able to effectively expel fluid from his lungs. While his heart is strong, Francis isn't a particularly healthy 88-year-old. He is overweight, is not physically active, uses a wheelchair because of bad knees, had part of one lung removed as a young man, and has admitted to being a not terribly cooperative patient in the past. Pope Francis in his wheelchair at the Vatican on the day of the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, February 9, 2025Francis has had two longer hospital stays during his nearly 12-year pontificate. He spent 10 days at Gemelli in 2021 when he had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed. In 2023, he was admitted for nine days for surgery to remove intestinal scar tissue and repair an abdominal hernia.As he recovers this time around, the Catholic faithful have been participating in special moments of prayer.In the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic nation, Filipino worshippers held an hourlong prayer at the Manila Cathedral on Friday for the Pope's rapid recovery. Other Catholics were urged to pray in their homes and communities for the pontiff, who drew a record crowd of 6 million people when he celebrated Mass in a Manila park in 2015, according to official estimates at the time.'The Philippines has a place very close to his heart,' said the Vatican's ambassador to Manila, Archbishop Charles John Brown.
