Pope Francis remains in a “critical” condition, his doctors said overnight, with blood tests showing “initial, mild renal insufficiency, at present under control”. Source: OSV News.
The Pope has had “no further respiratory crisis” since Saturday, said the medical bulletin published by the Vatican, but it said he was continuing to use supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula.
A blood transfusion administered on Saturday, the bulletin said, did prove beneficial “with a rise in the value of haemoglobin.” However, it added, his platelet count was still low.
The 88-year-old Pope, who has been hospitalised at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14 and has been diagnosed with double pneumonia, “continues to be alert and well oriented”, it said.
But “the complexity of his clinical picture, and the need to wait for the drug therapies to provide some result, dictate that the prognosis remains reserved,” the doctors said.
In the suite of rooms reserved for popes on the 10th floor of the hospital, Pope Francis “participated in Holy Mass, together with those who are caring for him during these days of hospitalisation,” the bulletin said.
The Pope’s doctors reported on Saturday that he had experienced “an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the use of oxygen at high flows.”
The Vatican released a message written by the Pope for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer yesterday, but did not say what day the Pope wrote it.
“I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation,” the Pope wrote, “carrying on with the necessary treatment; and rest is also part of the therapy!”
Pope Francis thanked the doctors and health care workers for their care and also thanked people for the “many messages of affection” that he has received, particularly the letters and drawings sent by children.
“Thank you for this closeness and for the prayers of comfort I have received from all over the world,” he wrote.
FULL STORY
Pope’s condition still ‘critical’ with signs of renal insufficiency under control (By Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz, CNS)
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Pope in hospital, condition remains critical but no new respiratory crisis (Vatican News)
