Vatican officials confirmed Pope Francis will not attend the Ash Wednesday liturgy as he recovers in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. While his condition is reportedly improving, sources say he was in ‘critical’ condition as recently as Thursday.
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis will not attend the Ash Wednesday liturgy as previously scheduled, as his hospitalization continues amid continuing signs of a slow improvement in his condition.
By virtue of a February 28 note from the office of Papal ceremonies, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis will not be attending the Ash Wednesday liturgy next week. The Pope had been scheduled to lead the ceremony which marks the formal start of the liturgical season of Lent, and which will take place at the Basilicas of Saint Anselm and Santa Sabina.
With the Pope now in hospital for over two weeks, his prognosis remains confidential; however, medical notes issued by the Vatican and his clinical team have noted a slight improvement in his condition in recent days.
Official statements have documented him as working while in hospital and a letter issued today from the Pope appears to support this, given its date of February 26.
From February 22 until February 26, the Pope’s doctors have described his condition as “critical,” and though they have reported improvements on subsequent days, Vatican sources affirmed yesterday morning that Francis’s condition remained “critical” even though the term was not included in the official statements.
Saturday saw a notable deterioration in the his health, but an improvement began earlier this week following blood transfusions which he received on Sunday. Sources had suggested on Monday that the Pope did not have long to live, but it appears that following this diagnosis, the Pope’s health notably improved.
The clinical picture in recent days has pointed to a sustained improvement in the Pope’s health, especially since earlier this week.
In a Thursday evening statement, the Holy See Press Office said the Pope’s condition “continues to improve.” However, his prognosis is still being withheld from the public, “given the complexity” of his condition and the need for “further days of clinical stability.”
On Thursday he received “high-flow oxygen therapy and ventimask” treatment, along with a “further session of physiotherapy,” which suggests his condition is indeed significantly better than over the weekend.
Francis was taken to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Friday, February 14, for bronchitis, and since then was diagnosed with double pneumonia in what was described as a “complex” medical scenario.
It has become the longest hospital stay of his pontificate.
(For full background, see LifeSiteNews’ coverage here.)
