ROME – After being diagnosed yesterday with the onset of pneumonia during his ongoing hospital stay, laboratory tests performed Wednesday indicate that there is a slight improvement in Pope Francis’s overall condition.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are stable. The blood tests, evaluated by medical staff, show a slight betterment, particularly of the inflammatory indices,” a Feb. 19 Vatican statement said.
After having breakfast earlier that morning, the pope read some newspapers and dedicated himself to some work activities with “his closest collaborators,” the statement said, but did not provide names.
Pope Francis received the Eucharist after lunch, and in the afternoon had a private, 20 minute meeting with Italian Prime Minister Girogia Meloni, who visited him at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
A readout from Meloni’s office earlier Wednesday said Meloni wished him a speedy recovery on behalf of the government and the entire nation.
“I am very happy to have found him alert and responsive,” Meloni said, saying, “we joked as always. He has not lost his proverbial sense of humor.”
Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital Friday, Feb. 14, for treatment of bronchitis, after struggling with the condition for nearly two weeks.
On Monday he was diagnosed with a polymicrobial respiratory infection, and on Tuesday a chest-scan revealed that he had begun to develop pneumonia in both lungs, resulting in what doctors described as a “complex” clinical situation requiring a shift in treatment.
It is unclear how long Pope Francis will remain in the hospital, however, his activities and appointments have been cancelled through this weekend, and it is expected there will be further cancellations next week.
Sources close to the pope and close papal aides have said that despite the seriousness of his condition, the pope is in good humor and is slowing getting better.
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