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Vatican: Pope on road to recovery after nearly two weeks in hospital

Flowers and candles are laid on Thursday at the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized with pneumonia in Rome. (Dimitar Dilkoff/Getty Images North America/TNS)
By Christoph Sator German Press Agency

ROME – After almost two weeks in hospital, Pope Francis appears to be on a slow road to recovery, according to the Vatican.

“The clinical condition of the Holy Father has improved further today,” said the daily bulletin from the Gemelli Hospital in Rome, which the Holy See released on Thursday evening.

The 88-year-old, who is suffering from severe pneumonia, received artificial oxygen via a breathing mask.

“Given the complexity of the clinical picture, further days of clinical stability are required,” said the statement.

Earlier in the day, the Vatican had noted that the pontiff “slept well during the night.”

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics has been in the Gemelli Hospital in northwest Rome since mid-February. He has not appeared in public since his admission.

On March 13, it will have been 12 years since the Argentina-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope. It is speculated that Francis definitely wants to be back in the Vatican by then. On Thursday, he received physiotherapy twice. In the afternoon, the Pope received communion in his ward on the 10th floor of the hospital, prayed and then worked.

His office said late on Wednesday that his condition had “slightly improved,” with his kidneys working again as a “mild renal insufficiency” receded.

Francis has been suffering from pneumonia, which still persists and is dangerous for a person of his age, but a new CT scan of the chest shows a “normal development,” the Vatican said.

Nevertheless, the prognosis remains cautious, it added.

Francis has been missing part of his right lung since a young age, complicating his recovery.

Because of his breathing problems, the pope occasionally receives high doses of supplemental oxygen through a tube inserted through his nose. The treatments appears to be having an effect, as the Vatican said Francis has not had any major attacks of shortness of breath since the weekend.

He is also receiving a range of medications, including cortisone.