Pope Francis, in stable condition, continues to pray, work and rest
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picture of Pope Francis is seen during a Ash Wednesday Mass at a church
in La Paz, Bolivia, March 5, 2025. (OSV News photo/Claudia Morales,
Reuters)Pope Francis had “a restful night and woke up shortly after 8 a.m.,” the Vatican said on Friday morning, March 7. It was his 22nd night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he is being treated for pneumonia in both lungs. His general condition continues to be stable but still with a guarded prognosis.
In the latest medical update, released by the Vatican at 7:30 p.m. on March 6, the pope’s doctors reported that “his condition remained stable,” as it had been for the previous two days; they said his blood parameters were normal, and he did not have a fever. He remained “alert and oriented” throughout yesterday, as he has been throughout his 21 days in the hospital, notwithstanding three crises in breathing caused by the underlying pulmonary infection. We also know from Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the lead doctor of his medical team, that the pope’s heart is strong, and his mental faculties are “those of a man of 60.”
Pope Francis surprised the world on Thursday evening, and brought much joy and even tears to many people when he sent a brief audio message to those gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Rosary for the pope’s recovery. Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman, told journalists today that the idea to send the voice message came from the pope himself: “It was his personal wish to have the audio be broadcast at the start of the Rosary. Pope Francis wanted to express his gratitude to everyone for the countless prayers offered on his behalf, through which he feels ‘carried’ and supported by the entire people of God.”
[What Pope Francis’ voice memo reveals about his understanding of the papacy]
An informed Vatican source said Pope Francis “continued his prescribed therapy, including motor physiotherapy, this morning.” The source reported that during the previous night, the pope slept wearing a mask over his nose and mouth to receive oxygen by non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but today, his 22nd day in the hospital, he is using nasal tubes to receive high-flow supplemental oxygen. His overall clinical condition “appears stable in the context of a complex picture,” due to his various pathologies and age, and the doctors keep a guarded prognosis, meaning they believe the pope is still not out of danger.
The Vatican announced on Thursday evening that given this stability in the pope’s overall condition, his doctors decided they would not continue to issue a medical bulletin every day since there is little new to add. Their next update will be released on Saturday evening, March 8.
The Vatican also let it be known that Pope Francis spent 20 minutes in the private chapel in the suite he now occupies on the 10th floor of Gemelli Hospital. The pope also did work, with the aid of his private secretaries, as he continues to govern the church from the hospital by approving the nomination of bishops, accepting resignations and establishing new dioceses. Today, he appointed several new members to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, including one member from China and another from the United States.
Since Francis was admitted to Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14, the Italian daily newspapers have interviewed many doctors and cardinals seeking to better understand the pope’s situation.
One interview was particularly enlightening: Corriere della Sera’s interview yesterday with Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 82, the emeritus archbishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve and former president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (2017-22). At the end of 2020, Cardinal Bassetti fell ill with Covid-19 and was rushed to intensive care. He spent one month in a hospital in Perugia and 20 days in Gemelli Hospital, where the pope is now.
“I had pneumonia in both lungs combined with septicemia, a general infection. At one point, they had intubated me,” he said. “The doctor who treated me at a certain point told my secretary: Alert his relatives, humanly speaking the cardinal is at the end.” He was almost 80 years old then, he said, and “there didn’t seem to be much to do for me now.”
From that experience, the cardinal said, “I understand what the pope may have felt [when he had his breathing crises]. I know what it means when you remain without air. Not being able to breathe is terrible; it’s worse than any pain.”
Asked if he felt loneliness in such critical moments, the cardinal said: “Yes. It’s a strange thing, but you realize that you are detaching yourself from life, as if all your references, your emotional context, were moving away…. I don’t think there is a more solitary act than death. As a priest, I always say that the worst death was that of Jesus on the Cross because he also felt the abandonment of the Father. Yet the instinct, even in those moments, is to continue living, until the last breath.”
Cardinal Bassetti said: “I really don’t know how they brought me back into the world. God knows it, and the doctors know it. As long as there is a breath of life, of thought, you entrust yourself to the Lord, you invoke the saints. I also thought of my parents…. But the moment you feel that your breath fails, it is as if you were no longer yourself, your life is handed over to God.”
He recalled, “For me it was a fairly slow recovery, but I recovered.” After some 50 days, he was discharged from the hospital. Soon after he met Pope Francis. “He encouraged me,” the cardinal said. “I had just recovered, and he said to me: Do you know why you are not dead? Because in hell there was no place for you!”
Referring to the pope’s difficult situation today, Cardinal Bassetti said: “I know Francis well. I know that he is ready to do the will of the Lord, whatever it may be. We are talking about a man of great faith, a Jesuit trained in the spirituality of St. Ignatius, with an extraordinary inner strength, one who before dawn recollects himself in prayer for two hours every morning. He knows that we are all in God’s hands.”
Commenting on the fact that so many people across the world are praying for Pope Francis’ recovery, the cardinal said: “Prayers fill loneliness and make you trust fully in God’s mercy. I think it is a great consolation for Francis to feel so much affection and gratitude around him. He preached the Gospel, he loved the poor, and people love him. I pray that he may recover in the best possible way and continue to lead the church. Maybe he won’t go racing, but he didn’t do it before either. He can govern as he has done so far; if God gives him strength, he will continue to do so.”
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