‘The pope is fine,’ doctors say, but not out of danger yet

VATICAN CITY (RNS) – After six days in the hospital, Pope Francis asked that his doctors give a press conference on Friday (Feb. 21) to explain his medical condition. While the doctors said they are optimistic about the pope returning home to the Vatican in the coming weeks, his advanced age and preexisting conditions make him a “fragile” patient.

“The pope is fine,” Sergio Alfieri, the head surgeon at the Gemelli hospital in Rome, where the pope is being treated, said during the press conference at the hospital. “Is the pope out of danger? No, the pope is not out of danger,” he said, but specified the pope is not in a life-threatening situation.

Pope Francis admitted himself to the hospital last Friday (Feb. 14) after struggling with bronchitis and difficulty breathing and over 10 days of being treated with cortisol and IV antibiotics at his home in Domus Sancta Marta, where he lives at the Vatican. Once at the hospital, medical tests showed he suffered from a polymicrobial infection, meaning he was infected with various bacteria, viruses or fungi, which had led to pneumonia in both lungs.

A Vatican statement on Thursday (Feb. 20) said the pope’s “clinical condition showed a slight improvement” and that he did not have a fever.

The pope suffers from a “chronic pathology of bronchiectasis with asthmatic bronchitis, which may have some flare-ups,” Alfieri said, adding that beyond that, “an 88-year-old patient is fragile.”

The greatest danger still facing the pope is the risk of sepsis, meaning if the infection in his respiratory tract moves into his bloodstream and affects other vital organs, Alfieri said. For this reason, the pope will likely have to stay at the hospital “for all the time that is necessary” and “at least until the end of next week.”

Surgeon Sergio Alfieri speaks to journalists, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, in the entrance hall of Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Alfieri praised the treatment the pontiff received at the Vatican under the care of physician Luigi Carbone, who oversees the Vatican’s department for health and hygiene, but said a prolonged cortisol treatment can impair the immune system and increase blood-sugar levels.

“The pope cares for the church very much and he put the church first,” said Carbone, who also took part in the press conference Friday.

The pope is to decide whether he will deliver the Angelus prayer on Sunday (Feb. 23) from the window of the hospital, the doctors noted. 

The pope knows his situation is risky, the doctors said, but remains in high spirits, has a good appetite and quips with doctors. A limited number of collaborators are allowed to visit him, and “he continues to work” from a couch in his room, Alfieri said, adding that the pope is not attached to any machine and only sometimes intakes oxygen when he has an asthmatic attack.

Asked by journalists why no photos of the pope have been made public since his hospitalization, Alfieri asked that the privacy of the pope be respected.

“Do we really need a photo of the pope in pajamas on the newspapers? Let’s respect his intimacy,” Alfieri said, and criticized news outlets that have spread false news about the pope or used unflattering photos of him to generate anxiety and panic.

Pope Francis had a portion of his right lung removed following a severe respiratory tract infection when he was a youth in Argentina and was treated at the Gemelli hospital in 2023 for pneumonia. He also had a portion of his large intestine removed in 2021, and two years later had abdominal surgery to treat complications from the operation. He also is mostly seen in a wheelchair.

Alfieri said the pope “has a strong heart,” adding that he “is from tough stock.” Beyond having to recover from the infection, the pope does not suffer from other pathologies, he said.

“The pope will be discharged and he will return to Santa Marta,” Alfieri added, but said the chronic conditions will remain.

Pope Francis has spoken candidly about the possibility of retiring, as his successor Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013, but said he would only do so if he were no longer able to perform his duties as pontiff.

“Having observed the character of the Holy Father, he is not a person who gives up,” Carbone said.