Pope Francis was in critical condition on Saturday night after having a long “asthmatic respiratory crisis” earlier in the day that required “high flows of oxygen” as well as a blood transfusion, the Vatican said, adding to concerns about the health of the 88-year-old pontiff.
The announcement indicated that Francis’ medical condition had become more complicated since an update from his doctors on Friday evening, when he was also said to be in critical condition.
“The pope is not out of danger,” the Vatican said on Saturday evening.
As the pope’s hospital stay enters a second week, questions have grown about whether Francis — the spiritual leader of almost 1.4 billion Roman Catholics worldwide — will recover, pass away, or manage to fight his infection but emerge physically diminished.
The damage to his lungs was already chronic, and in recent days a few cardinals have openly spoken about the possibility of Francis resigning, as his predecessor Benedict XVI did in 2013.
A death or resignation would prompt a conclave of the church’s cardinals, who would elect a successor.
In an interview with Milan daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday, Pope Francis’ secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, spoke of “useless speculation.” The only thing that mattered, he said, was “the Holy Father’s health, his recovery, his return to the Vatican.”
Francis was hospitalized on Feb. 14 with a respiratory tract infection that developed into pneumonia in both lungs. As a young man, Francis had part of a lung removed.
But the Vatican said on Saturday that Francis was alert and sitting up in an armchair, “though he was in more pain than yesterday.”
The blood transfusion was necessary because tests showed low platelet counts, associated with anemia, the Vatican said.
On Friday, his doctors had said that Francis was in critical condition and would remain in the hospital for at least another week.
His surgeon Sergio Alfieri said that the pope understood the risk of death at his age and had told him, “all doors were open.”
Speaking to reporters gathered at Policlinico Agostino Gemelli, the hospital where Francis is being treated, Dr. Alfieri had described the difficulties the pope’s medical team was facing to calibrate the right treatment for the pontiff, who has pneumonia but also a complex infection.
The pope’s medical doctor at the Vatican, Luigi Carbone, said that as in the case of any fragile patient, it would take very little for a medical situation “to become unbalanced.”
The doctors said that Francis was intermittently using oxygen.
This is the fourth time Francis has stayed at the Gemelli hospital. In 2021, he had colon surgery there. In 2023, he was admitted for a respiratory infection, but went home after three days. He was hospitalized again a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery for a hernia.
Dr. Alfieri, who performed both abdominal surgeries, said on Friday that when it came to those medical conditions, Francis was fine. The pope’s heart was strong, he added.
In recent years the pope has been prone to bouts of influenza and bronchitis during the cold winter months. Because of knee problems and sciatica, he often uses a wheelchair, walker or cane.