Pope Francis missed giving Sunday prayer service for the third straight week but remained in stable condition at a Rome hospital, the Vatican said.
“The night was quiet, the pope is still resting,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in Sunday’s update on the health of the 88-year-old pontiff.
Francis has been hospitalized at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic since Feb. 14, when he was admitted for a bout of bronchitis. He then developed pneumonia in both lungs and after several days of slight improvement he inhaled vomit on Friday and underwent another respiratory crisis.
However, by Sunday the pope felt well enough to receive two high profile visitors. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, his chief of staff, spoke briefly with Francis at the hospital, according to the Vatican.
Though Francis was not healthy enough to deliver his weekly Angelus prayer himself, the Vatican released a statement in which he thanked his doctors and supporters while calling as always for peace on Earth.
“I feel in my heart the ‘blessing’ that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord,” Francis said in the text. “At the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.”
A man walks in the ward where Pope Francis is hospitalized at the Gemelli hospital in Rome on Sunday. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Doctors said the pope was in stable condition on Sunday. He continued receiving supplemental oxygen and he was able to eat and drink, the Vatican said. After Friday’s crisis, doctors worried Francis was at risk of another infection but there were no signs of any new trouble on Sunday.
Thousands of well-wishers continued arriving in Rome. Even a man undergoing his own cancer treatment at Gemelli hospital was thinking of Francis.
“I am glad the pope is giving me help,” Antonino Cacace told The Associated Press. “I am on the ninth (floor) and he is on the 10th (floor). I hope to meet him and see him.”