AP
Rome
Pope Francis slept well, got out of bed and ate breakfast Wednesday, the Vatican said, after tests confirmed the 88-year-old pontiff had developed pneumonia in both lungs in a further complication that raised concerns about his ability to fight off the infection.
In an early update on Wednesday, the Vatican said Pope Francis spent his fifth night in Rome’s Gemelli hospital peacefully.
“He had a tranquil night, woke up and had breakfast,” spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
The Pope, who had the upper lobe of his right lung removed as a young man, was in good spirits and grateful for the prayers for his recovery, Bruni said.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited the pontiff in hospital on Wednesday and reported he was “alert and responsive” and full of good humour.
Meloni said she wanted to bring get-well wishes to the Pope on behalf of the government and the entire nation.
”We joked around as always. He has not lost his proverbial sense of humour,” she said in a statement issued by her office.
Pope Francis’ vicar for Rome urged all the faithful to devote an hour of silent prayer for the Pope before evening vespers services, and pilgrims who had planned to attend his weekly general audience came to St Peter’s Square anyway to offer a prayer after it was cancelled.
“I think many people are disappointed but I think more importantly we really have to pray for his health,” said Sister Charlene, a nun from Singapore who was in the piazza.
The pontiff was admitted to the Gemelli hospital on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. On Monday, medical personnel determined that he was suffering from a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, meaning a mix of viruses, bacteria and possibly other organisms had colonised in his respiratory tract.
Late Tuesday, the Vatican said a chest CT scan showed the onset of bilateral pneumonia on top of asthmatic bronchitis, which is being treated with cortisone and antibiotics.
Bronchitis can lead to pneumonia, which is a deeper and far more serious infection of the lungs’ air sacs. Pneumonia can develop in part or all of one lung or in both lungs. It tends to be more serious when both lungs are affected because there isn’t healthy tissue to compensate.
To date, Francis is breathing on his own and his heart function is said to be good. He has eaten breakfast every day, gotten out of bed, read the newspapers and done some work from his hospital room.
“Pope Francis is a strong man who does not let difficulties get him down,” said the Reverend Enzo Fortunato, who heads a new Vatican committee on children.
The fact that Pope Francis is keeping up with his ordinary routine, including receiving the Eucharist, “is a sign of a man who wants to experience the ordinariness of illness in the hospital.”
