The Vatican said that Pope Francis, 88, who is still recovering from pneumonia, had two additional respiratory problems on Monday and needed two different bronchoscopies.
In a statement released on Monday, March 3, 2025, on Francis’s 18th day in the hospital—the longest in his papacy—it stated, “Today, the Holy Father experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm.”
Global anxiety was raised when the Argentine pontiff was hospitalised at the Gemelli hospital in Rome on February 14 after developing pneumonia in both lungs from bronchitis.
In its evening medical update, the Vatican reported Monday that the pope had undergone two bronchoscopies to “aspirate abundant secretions.”
The pope was described as “alert, focused, and cooperative” after “non-invasive mechanical ventilation”—the use of an oxygen mask—was resumed in the afternoon.
Since the beginning of the pope’s hospital stay, the Vatican has stated that Francis’s prognosis is still “reserved,” meaning that medical professionals are unable to forecast the likely course of his illness.
After the pope experienced a respiratory crisis on Friday, the Vatican announced on Sunday night that his condition was stable.
Credit: Daily Express
On Friday and Saturday, the head of the nearly 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide needed the oxygen mask, but not on Sunday, when he attended mass and alternated between prayer and repose for the remainder of the day.
Francis also hosted Edgar Pena Parra, a Venezuelan archbishop and high-ranking Vatican official, and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, on Sunday.
On the tenth level of the Gemelli, the Jesuit, who has been pope since March 2013, is being treated in a special apartment meant for pontiffs.
For the third consecutive Sunday, Francis (born Jorge Bergoglio) skipped his customary Angelus prayer; in his place, the Vatican released a written statement.
“I feel all your affection and closeness, and, at this particular time, I feel as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people,” the pope said in the letter, thanking well-wishers for their prayers. “I’m grateful to everyone.”
