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Pope Francis\u2019 complex lung infection is not immediately life-threatening, his doctors said Friday, from the Rome hospital in which he has been treated for the past week, but they warned he is \u201cnot out of danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 88-year-old pontiff, who had part of a lung removed in his youth, would remain in the hospital for at least another week, his doctors told reporters. Francis, they said, had been prescribed \u201cmany drugs\u201d to treat a bronchial infection that had developed into double pneumonia, but he was not on a respirator.<\/p>\n
The doctors said the pope was in a \u201cgood mood\u201d and had even cracked jokes earlier in the day, but his condition remained critical.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I am an older man, that I have a chronic problem,\u201d the pope told his surgeon, Sergio Alfieri, who shared the conversation with reporters gathered at Policlinico Agostino Gemelli, the hospital where Francis is being treated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThe situation at my age is grave,\u201d the pope said, according to Dr. Alfieri. The pope, his doctor said, understood the risk of death at his age, and told him \u201call doors were open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Alfieri said the pope is \u201cnot out of danger\u201d and described what he called an \u201cimportant infection,\u201d which had not entered the bloodstream, a life-threatening condition known as sepsis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf unfortunately, one of these germs were to pass into the bloodstream, any patient would develop sepsis and sepsis, with his respiratory conditions and his age, could be very difficult to overcome,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
As the pope\u2019s hospital stay enters a second week, questions have grown about the future of the Roman Catholic Church, whether Francis \u2014 the spiritual leader of almost 1.4 billion Catholics \u2014 passes away or whether he manages to fight his infection but emerges 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Calibrating the right treatment involved many factors, Dr. Alfieri said. \u201cOur job is not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope\u2019s medical doctor at the Vatican, Luigi Carbone, noted that Francis was, after all, 88, and that it would take time for him to recover. It would not take much for the situation to become \u201cunbalanced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Alfieri said Francis was fragile but tough and Dr. Carbone said Francis was not one to give up.<\/p>\n
This is the fourth time Francis has stayed at the Gemelli. In 2021, he had colon surgery<\/a> there. In 2023, he was admitted for a respiratory infection<\/a> but went home after three days. He was hospitalized again a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery<\/a> for a hernia. Dr. Alfieri, who performed both abdominal surgeries, said Friday that when it came to those medical conditions, Francis was fine. The pope\u2019s heart was strong, he added.<\/p>\n Last February, he underwent diagnostic tests at the Gemelli hospital<\/a> after a slight flu. In recent years he 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.<\/p>\n Dr. Alfieri said that on Friday evening the pope had left his room to go pray at a chapel in his suite at the hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n