Pope Francis has shown “slight” improvement over the past 24 hours, but remains in critical condition, the Vatican announced Wednesday.
Francis, 88, has been hospitalized in Rome for nearly two weeks as his prognosis remains undisclosed. He returned to his first work activities earlier this week, and Wednesday’s update says he also carried out some of his duties.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father in the last 24 hours have shown a further, slight improvement. The mild renal failure found in recent days has returned. The chest CT scan, performed last night, showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary phlogistic picture. Today’s blood chemistry and blood tests confirmed yesterday’s improvement,” the Vatican said in a statement.
“The Holy Father continues high-flow oxygen therapy; even today he has not presented respiratory crises. Respiratory physiotherapy continues. Despite registering a slight improvement, the prognosis remains confidential. During the morning, the Holy Father received the Eucharist. The afternoon was dedicated to work activities,” the statement continued.
Tuesday is Francis’ 11th day in the hospital, exceeding the longest hospitalization of his papacy. He spent 10 days at Gemelli Hospital in 2021 after he had 13 inches of his colon removed.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan said Sunday in New York that the Catholic faithful were united “at the bedside of a dying father,” an acknowledgment of Francis’ short time left that church leaders in Rome have not said publicly.
Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.
Leave a Reply