Pope registers new slight improvements in pneumonia fight


By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is registering new slight improvements in his monthlong treatment for double pneumonia, the Vatican said Monday, as it also provided some details on the first photo of the pope released since his hospitalization.

The 88-year-old pontiff is now able to spend some time during the day off high flows of oxygen and use just ordinary supplemental oxygen delivered by a nasal tube, the Holy See press office said. Doctors are also trying to cut back on the amount of time he uses a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night, to force his lungs to work more.

While those amount to “slight improvements,” the Vatican isn’t yet providing any timetable on when Francis might be released from the Gemelli hospital or confirming any upcoming events. Known events include a planned visit by King Charles III and Holy Week in April.

Nuns pray the rosary in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Sunday, Mar. 16, 2025, for the health of Pope Francis hospitalized at Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome where he is being treated for bilateral pneumonia since Feb.14. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)

When Francis is being wheeled to his private chapel down the hall from his hospital room, for example, he doesn’t need to be attached to the oxygen, the press office said. It was at that moment that Francis was photographed on Sunday, from behind, as he sat in his wheelchair before the chapel altar in prayer without any sign of nasal tubes.

The photo, showing Francis wearing a Lenten purple stole, marked the first image of the pope since he was admitted to Gemelli Feb. 14 with a complex lung infection that developed into double pneumonia. It followed an audio message Francis recorded March 6 in which he thanked people for their prayers, his voice soft and labored.

Together, they suggested Francis is very much controlling how the public follows his illness to prevent it from turning into a spectacle. While many in the Vatican have held up St. John Paul II’s long and public battle with Parkinson’s disease and other ailments as a humble sign of his willingness to show his frailties, others criticized it as excessive and showy.



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