Pope Francis was in critical condition on Saturday after having undergone a long asthmatic respiratory crisis which required high oxygen flow rates, said the Vatican.
Francis, 88, who was hospitalized for a week with a complex pulmonary infection, also received blood transfusions after the tests showed a condition associated with anemia, said the Vatican in a late update. Earlier in the day, the Vatican said that Francis had “rested well” overnight.
“The Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday. For the moment, the prognosis is reserved, ”said the press release.
Doctors said on Friday that the Francis, 88, is “not out of danger” And that the main threat confronted with it would be the beginning of sepsis, a serious blood infection that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.
“Septicemia, with its respiratory problems and its age, would be really difficult to withdraw,” said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of medicine and surgery at Gemelli in Rome, during a press conference on Friday . “The English say” strike on the wood “,” we say “touch the iron”. Everyone touches what they want, “he said by typing the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to blood circulation.”
On Friday, there was no proof of sepsis and the pope responded to the various drugs he takes.
“He is not out of danger,” his personal doctor said on Friday, Dr. Luigi Carboni. “So, like all fragile patients, I say that they are always on a golden scale: in other words, it takes very little to become unbalanced.”
Gregorio Borgia / AP
The Vatican continued with his celebrations of the Holy Year without the Pope on Saturday.
In a brief previous update on Saturday, Francis slept well overnight.
But doctors have warned that the main threat confronted with Francis would be the start of sepsis, a serious blood infection that can occur as a complication of pneumonia. On Friday, there was no evidence of sepsis and Francis responded to the various drugs he takes, said the Pope’s medical team in their first in -depth update on the state of the Pope.
“He is not out of danger,” said his personal doctor, Dr. Luigi Carbon. “So, like all fragile patients, I say that they are always on a golden scale: in other words, it takes very little to become unbalanced.”
Francis, who suffers from a chronic lung disease, was admitted to the Gemelli hospital on February 14 after a A week of bronchitis has worsened.
Doctors first diagnosed the Complex infection of viral, bacterial and fungal ways Then the start of pneumonia in the two lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, as well as additional oxygen when it needs it.
Alessandra Tarantino / AP
Carboni, who, with the personal nurse of Francis, Massimiliano Strappetti, organized care for him in the Vatican, admitted that he had insisted to stay in the Vatican to work, even after being sick, “because of the institutional commitments and private ”. He was taken care of by a cardiologist and an infectious specialist in addition to his personal medical team before being hospitalized.
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of medicine and surgery at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, said that the greatest threat confronted with Francis was that some of the germs that are currently located in his respiratory system pass in the bloodstream, provoking septicemia. Septicemia can cause organ failure and death.
“Septicemia, with its respiratory problems and age, would be really difficult to get out,” Alfieri told a press conference on Friday in Gemelli. “The English say” strike on the wood “,” we say “touch the iron”. Everyone touches what they want, “he said by typing the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to blood circulation.”
“He knows he’s in danger,” added Alfieri. “And he told us to relay this.”
The deacons, for their part, gathered at the Vatican for their special jubilee weekend. Francis fell ill at the start of The Holy Year of the VaticanThe celebration of Catholicism formerly quarter of Catholicism. This weekend, Francis was supposed to have celebrated the deacons, a ministry in the church preceding ordination at the priesthood.
Andreas Solaro / AFP via Getty Images
In his place, the organizer of the Holy Year will celebrate the Mass on Sunday, said the Vatican. And for the second consecutive weekend, Francis had to ignore his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he could have delivered from Gemelli if he was up to the task.
“Listen, even if it is not (physically) here, we know it is here,” said Luis Arnaldo Lopez Quirindongo, a deacon of Ponce, Puerto Rico who was in the Vatican on Saturday for the celebration of the jubilee. “He recovers, but he is in our hearts and accompanies us because our prayers and his his own go together.”
Beyond that, the doctors said that Francis’ recovery would take time and that he will always have to live with his chronic respiratory problems in the Vatican.
“He must overcome this infection and we all hope that he is recovering,” said Alfieri. “But the fact is that all the doors are open.”
While his stay in hospital takes place, some of Francis’ cardinals began to answer the obvious question: if Francis could resign if he becomes irreversibly ill and unable to continue. Francis said he would consider him, after Pope Benedict XVI “opened the door” to retired popes, but has not shown no sign of resignation and in fact recently said that the Pope’s work is for life