Pope Francis faces his most serious health crisis as he remains confined in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for respiratory problems.
Here is a timeline of events, showing how the Pope’s “strong cold” turned into a “critical” case of double pneumonia.
February 5
Pope Francis says in his Wednesday general audience that he is battling a “strong cold,” then requests an aide to read his prepared speech.
“I want to ask forgiveness but with this strong cold, it is difficult for me to speak,” the Pope tells pilgrims at the Vatican’s Pope Paul VI Hall.
February 6
The Vatican says the Pope has bronchitis and will hold his audiences at Casa Santa Marta, his residence, on February 7 and 8.
The Pope receives young priests and monks of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, who are on a study visit to Rome, and meets with midwives, gynecologists, and healthcare workers from southern Calabria in Italy, according to Vatican News.
February 6 to 13
Francis continues his regular activities and, on February 9, even presides over a morning Mass for the Jubilee of Armed Forces, Police, and Personnel — an outdoor event — where the weather was around 14 degrees Celsius. It is windy on this day, and his white skullcap is even blown away by the wind while he is reading a speech. (Check out timecode 49.37 of this Vatican News video.)
Multiple reports recount how the Pope initially refused to go to the hospital.
“Instead, hoping to overcome the bronchitis without having to go to the hospital and without taking some days’ rest as would have seemed advisable, he continued to hold the many private audiences that had been scheduled for the week,” Gerard O’Connell of America magazine writes.
February 14
Francis is brought to the Gemelli Hospital for diagnostic tests and bronchitis treatment after struggling to speak in one of his meetings with a Puerto Rico-based group and at least three personalities, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle.
CNN, whose CEO had an audience with Francis that day, reports that the Pope was “mentally alert but struggling to speak for extended periods due to breathing difficulties.”
February 17
The Vatican says the Pope has a “polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract,” described as a “complex clinical situation” that will require a change in therapy.
February 18
The Vatican cancels all events on the Pope’s calendar until February 23. Later that day, it announces that Francis has the onset of double pneumonia.
February 19
The Vatican releases a statement stating that Pope Francis’ clinical conditions “are stable.” It adds, “Blood tests…show a slight improvement, particularly in the inflammatory markers.”
On the same day, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni becomes the Pope’s first known VIP visitor at Gemelli Hospital. “I am very happy to have found him alert and responsive,” says Meloni. “We joked as always. He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humor.”
February 20
The Vatican says again that the Pope is “slightly improving” with stable blood analyses. Later that day, his doctors hold their first press conference, saying that the Pope is not in danger of death but is not “out of danger.”
“If the question is whether he is out of danger, the answer is no,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri tells a press conference. “But if you’re asking whether he is currently in life-threatening danger, the answer is also no.”
February 22
“The condition of the Holy Father continues to be critical,” says the Vatican, using the word “critical” for the first time.
The Vatican says Francis “experienced an asthma-like respiratory crisis of prolonged intensity, which required the administration of high-flow oxygen.” He also needed blood transfusions after blood tests “revealed thrombocytopenia, associated with anemia.”
“The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, although he is more fatigued than yesterday,” says the Holy See Press Office.
February 23
“The night was tranquil, the Pope rested,” says the Vatican in a one-sentence update in the morning.
A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorized to speak about the pope’s condition, says Francis is awake and alert. The Pope is receiving oxygen as needed via a small tube under his nose, but is breathing unaided, the official adds.
Bookmark and refresh this page for further updates as they become available. – with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com