ROME – Pope Francis was in critical condition on Saturday after suffering a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis that necessitated high oxygen levels, according to the Vatican.
The 88-year-old Francis, who has been in the hospital for a week with a complex lung infection, also received blood transfusions after tests revealed a condition associated with anemia, the Vatican said in a late update.
“The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, albeit in more pain than yesterday. At the moment, the prognosis is uncertain,” the statement read.
Earlier, doctors said Francis was suffering from pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection, which they said was “touch and go” and would keep him in the hospital for at least another week.
The Vatican continued its Holy Year celebrations without the pope on Saturday.
According to a brief update from Saturday, Francis slept well overnight.
However, doctors have warned Francis that the main threat he faces is the onset of sepsis, a serious blood infection that can develop as a complication of pneumonia. As of Friday, there was no evidence of sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he was taking, according to the pope’s medical team in their first comprehensive update on his condition.
“He is not out of danger,” said his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone. “So like all fragile patients I say they are always on the golden scale: In other words, it takes very little to become unbalanced.”
Francis, who has chronic lung disease, was admitted to Gemelli Hospital on February 14 after his bronchitis worsened over the course of a week.
Doctors diagnosed a complex viral, bacterial, and fungal respiratory tract infection, followed by pneumonia in both lungs. They recommended “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, as well as supplemental oxygen when necessary.
Carbone, who, along with Francis’ personal nurse Massimiliano Strappetti, organized care for him at the Vatican, admitted that he insisted on staying at the Vatican to work even after becoming ill, “because of institutional and private commitments.” Before being admitted to the hospital, he received care from a cardiologist and an infectious specialist, in addition to his personal medical team.
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, stated that the most serious threat Francis faces is that some of the germs in his respiratory system will enter his bloodstream and cause sepsis. Sepsis can cause organ failure and death.
“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Alfieri said at a Gemelli news conference on Friday. “The English say ‘knock on wood,’ and we say ‘touch iron.’ “Everyone touch whatever they want,” he said, tapping the microphone. “But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream.”
“He knows he is in danger,” Alfieri said. “And he told us to relay that.”
Meanwhile, deacons gathered at the Vatican for a special Jubilee weekend. Francis became ill at the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year, a celebration of Catholicism that occurs every quarter century. This weekend, Francis was supposed to celebrate deacons, a church ministry that precedes priesthood ordination.
The Holy Year organizer will take his place and celebrate Sunday’s Mass, the Vatican announced. And, for the second weekend in a row, Francis was expected to skip his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he could have delivered from Gemelli if he felt up to it.
“Look, even though he is not (physically) here, we know he is here,” said Luis Arnaldo Lopez Quirindongo, a deacon from Ponce, Puerto Rico, who visited the Vatican on Saturday for the Jubilee celebration. “He is recovering, but he is in our hearts and is accompanying us because our prayers and his go together.”
Aside from that, doctors have stated that Francis’ recovery will be slow, and that he will continue to suffer from chronic respiratory problems at the Vatican.
“He has to get over this infection and we all hope he gets over it,” according to Alfieri. “But the fact is, all doors are open.”
