Condition stable after serious respiratory attacks as 88-year-old nears three weeks in hospital
PUBLISHED : 5 Mar 2025 at 19: 45
Candles are lit at the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli University Hospital in Rome where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, on March 4. (Photo: AFP)
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis’s condition was stable on Wednesday as he neared three weeks in hospital battling pneumonia, a Vatican source said, with celebrations for the Lent religious season starting without him.
The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church has suffered a worrying series of respiratory attacks since his admission to the Gemelli in Rome on Feb 14, the most recent on Monday.
The pope “rested well overnight”, the Vatican said Wednesday, while a Holy See source said later that, as on Tuesday evening, his condition remained “stable”.
He wore an oxygen mask both Monday and Tuesday night because it helps him sleep better, the source said, while Wednesday he was receiving “high-flow” oxygen via a nasal cannula.
Francis had a calm day on Tuesday after Monday’s two episodes of acute respiratory failure, with the Vatican reporting he had no fever, was “alert” and cooperating with his treatment.
But the Argentine’s prognosis “remains reserved”, meaning doctors will not say how they exp
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