Pope Francis will be released from hospital on Sunday after 38 days battling a severe case of pneumonia in both lungs that threatened his life on two occasions when he suffered acute respiratory crises, his doctors said.
Dr Sergio Alfieri, who co-ordinated Francis’s medical team at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, said the pontiff will require at least two months of rest and rehabilitation as he continues recovering at the Vatican, but his personal doctor, Dr Luigi Carbone, said if he continues his steady improvements to date, he should be able to resume his normal activity.
The doctors spoke at a press conference on Saturday evening in the hospital atrium, their first in-person update on the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition in a month.
They provided details on the severity of the infection, which he is still being treated for, and the two respiratory crises that marked the gravest threats to his life.
They confirmed he will be released on Sunday, after first offering a blessing to the faithful from his hospital suite, the first time he will have been seen by the public since he was admitted on February 14.
“When he was in really bad shape, it was difficult that he was in good spirits,” Dr Alfieri said. “But one morning we went to listen to his lungs and we asked him how he was doing. When he replied ‘I’m still alive’ we knew he was OK and had gotten his good humour back.”
Dr Alfieri confirmed that Francis was still having trouble speaking due to damage to his lungs and the time he spent on supplemental oxygen and ventilation, but he added that such problems are normal and predicted his voice will return.
“When you have a bilateral pneumonia, your lungs get damaged and the respiratory muscles are in difficulty. You lose your voice a bit, like when you speak too high,” Dr Alfieri said.
“As for all patients, young or old but especially older ones, you need time for it to come back as it was.”
The Argentine pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to hospital after a bout of bronchitis worsened.
Doctors first diagnosed a complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection and then pneumonia. Blood tests showed signs of anaemia, low blood platelets and the onset of kidney failure, all of which were resolved after two blood transfusions.
The most serious setbacks began on February 28 when Francis experienced an acute coughing fit and inhaled vomit, requiring he use a non-invasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.
He suffered two more respiratory crises on March 3, which required doctors to manually aspirate the mucus, at which point he began sleeping with the ventilation mask at night to help his lungs clear the accumulation of fluids.
At no point did he lose consciousness, and doctors reported he always remained alert and co-operative.
Over the past two weeks, he has stabilised and registered slight improvements. He no longer needs to wear the ventilation mask at night and is cutting back his reliance on high flows of supplemental oxygen during the day.
At his home in the Santa Marta hotel, next to St Peter’s Basilica, Francis will have access to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, Dr Carbone said.
“The Holy Father is improving, and we hope soon he can resume his normal activity,” the doctor added.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to confirm any upcoming events, including a scheduled audience on April 8 with King Charles III or Francis’s participation in Easter services at the end of the month, but Dr Carbone said he hoped Francis might be well enough to travel to Turkey at the end of May to participate in an important ecumenical anniversary.
The Vatican announced that before returning to the Vatican, Francis will appear on Sunday morning to bless the faithful from his 10th floor suite at the hospital.
While Francis released an audio message on March 6 and the Vatican distributed a photo of him on March 16, Sunday’s blessing will be the first live appearance since he was admitted for what has become the longest hospital stay of his 12-year papacy.
