The clinical condition of Pope Francis “remains critical, but stationary,” according to the latest medical bulletin released by the Vatican press office. The report emphasizes that “no acute respiratory episodes and hemodynamic parameters have occurred and continue to be stable.” The Pontiff, currently on his twelfth day of hospitalization at the Gemelli Polyclinic, has undergone a “program of programmed control for the radiological monitoring of bilateral pneumonia.” The prognosis, however, “remains reserved.”

In a positive development, the Vatican press office announced that Pope Francis, after receiving the Eucharist, resumed his work. The outcome of the CT scan is being closely examined by doctors to understand how the Pope is responding to the therapy for bilateral pneumonia. This is the third CT scan conducted, following the initial one upon his arrival and the second that revealed the bilateral pneumonia.

Compared to the previous day, the Pope’s mild renal failure persists but does not raise concerns. Oxygen is administered at the levels required by his needs. The Vatican press office previously reported that the Pope had “rested well, all night” and “without interruption,” ruling out other respiratory crises. Upon waking, “the usual therapy of these days continued.” Notably, medical bulletins have never mentioned the administration of sedatives. Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, speaking to RTL 102.5, emphasized, “It seems to me that there is no reason to talk about resignation or to hypothesize them. We continue to pray so that he gets better and more, until complete healing and returning to his ministry.”

Pope Francis not only “got up” but received visits on Tuesday in the suite on the tenth floor of Gemelli and worked, making decisions and signing documents. He received the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and the substitute for general affairs, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. During this meeting, the Pope approved the promulgation of decrees of the causes of the saints, including those on the “venerability” of Salvo D’Acquisto for the sacrifice of the “‘Offer of life,” and of the American priest Emilio Giuseppe Kapaun, killed in the Korean war. Notably, Francesco approved the next holiness of Bartolo Longo, founder and benefactor of the Sanctuary of Pompeii, and of the secular Venezuelan Gregory Hernandez Cisneros, for the canonization of which he will convene a Consistory in order to establish the date.

A series of appointments then concerned bishops in Canada and Brazil. As well as the two new general secretaries of the Governorate, Msgr. Emilio Nappa and the layman Avv. Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, also through changes to the fundamental law of the State of the Vatican City and that on his government: attributed to the neo-president Sister Raffaella Petrini the right to confer competences and tasks to the two appointed. Francesco also disclosed the message for Lent, a pre-patis period that will not be able to inaugurate on March 5, Ash Wednesday, with the usual procession to the Aventine. “Death has been transformed into victory and here is the faith and the great hope of Christians: in the resurrection of Christ,” He writes in the text, dated February 6, in which he urges Christians also to identify with the sufferings of migrants. The invitation is also to “walk together, to be Synod, this is the vocation of the Church. Christians are called to make the way together, never as lone travelers.” He also made his presence heard also with a full -bodied message sent to the Lima congress on the prevention of abuses in the Church, recalling responsibility for the use of the AI. The prayer of the faithful continues and the Rosary in St. Peter’s Square, on the second day chaired by Cardinal Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect for evangelization.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for evangelization, will guide the Rosary in St. Peter’s Square for the Pope’s health tonight at 9 pm. “It seems to me that there is no reason to talk about resignation or to hypothesize them,” It says Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco to the microphones of RTL 102.5. Speaking of the prayer chain for the Pope’s health, the cardinal adds: “If the world stopped to pray, it is a great thing: a chain of prayer that has risen to the Lord for the Holy Father Francesco at this moment like this delicate.”

The Geriatrician: “The Pope is serious but the picture is not critical, there is no sepsis”

The clinical situation of the pontiff “remains serious and important but I would not say criticism and, at the moment, I do not believe there are signs of an initial sepsis condition.” This was stated by the president of the Italian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (Sigg), Dario Leosco, commenting on the last bulletin on the conditions of Pope Francis that reports a ‘slight improvement.’ The Pope, he notes the Ansa, “is showing that he has a strong timing and is reacting, and this is positive. But this clinical condition could last for a long time, given the complex framework, and I agree with the fact that the prognosis remains reserved.”

“The episodes of respiratory crisis that the Pope has had – explains Leosco – are due to the asthmatic component that causes a restriction of the respiratory tract, or a bronchoconstriction. Therefore the aggravation found yesterday I do not think it is justified by the failure to control the respiratory infection , but by the condition of the bronchi which is critical and can be controlled only by the administration of cortisone drugs.” The fact that the pontiff “enters and comes out of these swinging paintings of aggravating the respiratory condition – notes the geriatrician – that is, it appears more linked to the asthmatical component and may therefore not be linked to the failure to respond to antibiotic therapy.” As for anemia, “the infection in itself causes a depression of the marrow activity and therefore a reduction in the production of blood cells, as well as the fact that it is subjected to a massive antibiotic therapy.”

In any case, the expert reiterates, “if you move from an unstable situation to a more stable, as it seems to be happening, I think there are no elements that can currently predict a condition of sepsis. The sepsis is in fact one severe condition that does not resolve shortly. The risk, however, is that the persistent pontiff in this ‘fluctuating’ but substantially critical clinical picture: “the overcoming of the current critical condition – says Leosco – depends on the trend of the lung infection that is expressed by the systemic inflammatory indices, therefore from EMOCROMO, from the white blood cells and the reactive C protein. made known in the bulletin. In any case, “albeit in the face of a strong timing like that of the pontiff – concludes President Sigg – this condition of criticality could last long.”