Rome (AP) -Papst Franziskus woke up with good news on Tuesday with his doctors: They improved his forecast and say that he was no longer in an immediate risk of death due to the double pneumonia, which he received in hospital for almost a month in the longest and adjacent threat to his 12-year-old paper.
However, the 88-year-old Pope is not yet out of the forest. The doctors are still cautious and have decided to keep him in the hospital for a few more days to maintain treatment, not to mention a rehabilitation period that he will probably need.
But the doctors said he was stable and, according to blood tests and his good response to treatment, improved in the past few days. Francis, who has a chronic lung disease, still uses additional oxygen during the day and a ventilation mask at night to help it.
In an early update on Tuesday, the Vatican said that Francis woke up after a quiet night around 8 a.m. The Argentine Jesuit regularly slept in the Gemelli Hospital. His usual wake -up time in the Vatican is around 4:30 a.m.
In the late Monday, the doctors raised their “guarded” forecast for the Pope, which means that due to the original respiratory infection with which he had arrived on February 14, it was no longer in direct danger. In view of the fragility of Francis and the risk of other complications, her caution remained.
“In view of the complexity of the clinical image and the important infectious image that is presented when admission, it is necessary to continue the drug drug therapy in a hospital for further days,” says the explanation of the Vatican.
In a sign of his improved health, Francis followed the weekly retreat of the Vatican spiritual retreat through video conference on Monday in the morning and afternoon sessions, which he would probably do until the week.
This week there are also some important anniversaries for Francis: Tuesday was the 67th anniversary of its entry into the novitiate of the Jesuit -religious medals, and Thursday the 12th anniversary of his election as a Pope.
Francis, who had removed part of a lung as a young man, had a bad case of bronchitis when he was hospitalized last month. The infection developed into a complex infection of the airways and a double pneumonia, which has raised questions about the future of his pontificate.
However, he still kept an eye on things. The Vatican said that he had been informed about the floods in his home country of Argentina, sent a telegram of condolences and expressed its proximity to the affected population. In addition, a Vatican Cardinal near Francis spoke on Monday to refuse some negative media reports that were spread in his absence.
The Vatican development office published a letter from Cardinal Michael Czerny to one of the close friends of Francis, the activists of Argentine social justice, Juan Grabois. Grabois had traveled to Rome to pray for Francis in the Gemelli Hospital, and some Italian media reported that he had tried to go to the 10th floor of Francis ’10. Stock Hospital Suite to get an assertion he denied.
In the letter dated March 6, Czerny Grabois said that Francis “knew about her presence in Rome and her daily vigils of prayer and spiritual solidarity at Gemelli Polyclinic, and I am sure that this gave him a real comfort and support.”
“I also know that with me you have strongly rejected the unfounded versions that were spread in some media about supposedly inappropriate behavior in the hospital,” wrote Czerny.
The Vatican is always full of rumors, but has exaggerated with speculation about Francis’ health and conversations about complics, although Francis is very lively and responsible. The fact that Czerny thought it was necessary to defend one from Francis’ friends indicated that the rumor and maneuvering in Francis had exceeded a line.
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