CV NEWS FEED // Pope Francis, who entered Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital Feb. 14 to receive treatment for bronchitis, now has double pneumonia, Vatican News reported Tuesday. The Holy See Press Office published an update Wednesday morning stating that the Pope “spent a restful night, woke up and had breakfast.”
The Pope has bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis, according to the report issued the evening of Feb. 18, local time. He has needed corticosteroid treatment and antibiotics for his polymicrobial infection.
“A follow-up chest CT scan, to which the Holy Father was subjected this afternoon — prescribed by the Vatican medical team and the medical staff of the “A. Gemelli” Polyclinic Foundation — revealed the onset of bilateral pneumonia, requiring additional pharmacological therapy,” Vatican News’ report had stated.
Still, the Pope “remains in good spirits,” the Tuesday press release said, according to the article.
“He expresses his gratitude for the support he feels at this time and kindly asks that prayers for him continue,” the Vatican News article said.
The Pope’s day included receiving the Eucharist, resting, praying, and reading, Vatican News reported Tuesday.
At a press conference earlier in the day, Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni had told reporters that the Pope’s previous night was peaceful, according to a previous Vatican News article.
“The Pope rested, woke up this morning, had breakfast, and spent some time reading newspapers, as he regularly does,” Bruni said, according to Vatican News.
The Pope will not preside at the Feb. 23 Mass for the Jubilee of Deacons, the Holy See Press Office announced. Instead, the Pope has delegated the assignment to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for Fundamental Questions of Evangelization in the World.
The Feb. 22 Jubilee Audience has been canceled, the announcement said.
Catholics and others around the world continue to pray for the Pope and to invite others to join them.
“Sending prayers and strength to Pope Francis whose voice has been such a light to me and millions of others,” Maria Shriver said in a Feb. 18 post on X. “May he know how loved he is and may he know how needed he is.”
“We come together in prayer for Pope Francis as he faces a complex respiratory infection after his recent hospital admission,” the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, said in a post on X. “Let us lift our prayers to the Lord, asking for the Holy Father’s swift and complete recovery, so he may continue his vital ministry to the Church.”
Bishop Robert Brennan, of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, shared the following prayer on X: “Almighty ever-living God, eternal health of believers, Hear our prayers for your servant, Pope Francis, who is sick: Grant him, we implore you, your merciful help, So that, with his health restored, He may give you thanks in the midst of your Church. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.”
The Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, said in an X post that it prays the Pope makes a quick recovery, adding, “Lord, grant him healing, strength, and peace during this time. Amen.”