Pope Francis has spent more than eight days at a hospital in Rome, battling pneumonia in both lungs, and this Sunday he's expected to miss leading the mass and prayers at St. Peter's for the second weekend in a row.
Prior Friday statements suggested his condition 'slightly improved' - but by Saturday the situation has become more dire. Pope Francis "is more unwell than yesterday," the Vatican said in a fresh statement, revealing he's suffered a "prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis."
The new statement says the prognosis for him "remains guarded" - after the 88-year old Pontiff was hospitalized on Feb.14 for worsening bronchitis leading to pneumonia. He is being administered high-flow oxygen and remains in critical condition, and received a blood transfusion.
As of Thursday he was said to be awake, eating, and doing some work from his hospital bed, but pneumonia in the elderly can be devastating, and despite moments of strength, breathing problems can quickly take a downward turn. Sepsis has also reportedly remained a concern in Francis' fragile state.
The severity of the episode has led to days speculation over possible resignation:
In a memoir, Life: My Story Through History, published last year, Francis wrote, “I think that the Petrine ministry is ‘ad vitam’ [‘for life’] and therefore I see no conditions for a resignation”, only to add in the next sentence, “things would change if a serious physical impediment were to arise”.
As the pontiff enters his eighth day in hospital on Friday, suffering from pneumonia in both lungs, Vatican watchers are wondering just how serious Francis, 88, thinks that physical impediment has to be.
On Thursday evening, the Vatican said that Francis’s condition was “slightly improving”, adding that his heart and circulation were in good shape and that he was free of fever and able to work.
However, in an interview on Italian radio, the senior Vatican cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi broached the topic on everyone’s mind and claimed: “I think he could [resign] because he is a person who, from this point of view, is quite decisive in his choices.”
This is the first time in his pontificate that the issue of resignation has been raised by a senior Cardinal. However, if he exits the hospital soon this is unlikely, as Pope's traditionally serve till death. It is extremely rare for a Pope to step down, with his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI having been one of the exceptions to the historic rule.
Newsweek commented, "The possibility of resignation resurfaced when Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi noted that if Francis' ability to engage directly with people was compromised, he might consider stepping down."
Reports of a blood transfusion needed:
Conservative and traditional Roman Catholics have been critics of Francis' leadership, saying he represents a liberalizing trend in church life. For example, in 2023 he issued a document allowing for priests and bishops to conduct blessing ceremonies over same-sex couples. Amid fierce controversy and confusion among conservative Catholics, he later claimed the blessing is over the 'individuals and not the union' - in a bit of dubious Jesuitical casuistry.
Liberals have tended to hail him as being open to the world and a voice of 'progress' - while some traditionalists might be looking forward to the day a new pope is elected, but it remains that an even more liberal pope could be the successor.