Pope Francis continues treatment ‘as planned’

In the Ash Wednesday homily delivered on his behalf, Francis said Lent ‘unfolds amid the remembrance of our frailty’ as human beings.

The Pope’s treatment continued “as planned” on Wednesday, and he called Gaza’s parish priest. The evening bulletin from the Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis “remained stable” as he had through Tuesday “without any episodes of respiratory deficiency” like the two he suffered on Monday.  

It said he spent the day in his armchair and received high-flow oxygenation, delivered through nasal canula, having received mechanical ventilation overnight. He also “increased his respiratory and active motor physiotherapy”. His prognosis remained reserved.

During the day, he was able to take part in the blessing of ashes in an Ash Wednesday liturgy in his private apartment in the Gemelli Hospital. He also called Fr Gabriel Romanelli IVE, the parish priest in Gaza, as he has several times since his hospitalisation when his condition has allowed, and “engaged in several work activities”, the Vatican statement said.

The Pope resumed mechanical ventilation during the night, which passed “peacefully”, the Vatican reported on Thursday morning.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the major penitentiary of the Roman Curia, led the Ash Wednesday liturgy on Rome’s Aventine Hill in the Pope’s absence. Speaking before delivering the homily prepared by Pope Francis, the cardinal said the congregation was “deeply united with him in this moment, and we thank him for the offering of his prayer and his sufferings for the good of the entire Church and the whole world”.

In the homily, Francis said Lent “unfolds amid the remembrance of our frailty” as human beings. “Made of ashes and earth, we experience fragility through illness, poverty, and the hardships that can suddenly befall us and our families,” he said. In his Angelus address published last Sunday, Francis said he felt “the ‘blessing’ that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely n these moments that we learn even more to trust in God”.

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, led the nightly Rosary for the Pope with other cardinals in St Peter’s Square on Wednesday evening.

The sostituto of the Secretariat of State Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, who has twice visited the Pope in hospital with the Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said Francis had “expressed his gratitude for the prayer initiatives” around the world. He told the daily Avvenire, published by the Italian bishops’ conference: “I think these are a great sign of consolation that the Lord is giving him”.

The Bishop of Hong Kong Cardinal Stephen Chow said he was “in tears” while praying for the Pope at the Shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan – which Pope Francis has said he dreams to visit – alongside the Bishop of Shanghai Joseph Shen Bin during a visit to mainland China last week.

“I was genuinely touched, and I found myself in tears during the prayer,” he told his diocese’s Sunday Examiner, describing the liturgy in Shanghai on 25 February, where he recited a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan written by Pope Benedict XVI. “This location carries immense importance for the Church in China, and it was meaningful to pray alongside Bishop Shen for the Holy Father here.”

Pope back on ventilation after two respiratory crises

John Paul II stayed in the Gemelli hospital so often that he dubbed it his Vatican III

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