Pope Francis has been admitted to a hospital for a week with pneumonia, doctors have said that his condition isn’t life-threatening, however, he is not out of danger. His medical team said that the 88-year-old Pope will remain hospitalised for at least all of next week. The pope is receiving occasional supplements of oxygen and is responding to strengthened drug therapy for pneumonia, doctors said.
Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 after a case of bronchitis worsened. Doctors later 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 that is 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 has shown no signs of stepping down and in fact has asserted recently that the job of pope is for life.
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.
Pope's past history with medical issues
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.
Francis 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.
(With inputs from the Associated Press)