Pope is in ‘critical’ condition after suffering ‘asthmatic respiratory crisis,’ Vatican says

Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized for more than a week, remains in “critical” condition and developed an “asthmatic respiratory crisis” earlier on Saturday, the Vatican said in a statement.

“This morning Pope Francis presented with an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the application of oxygen at high flows,” the Vatican wrote about the ailing pontiff who is being treated for pneumonia.

While Francis “continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair” he is “in more pain than yesterday,” it added.

He also received blood transfusions today to treat anemia, according to the statement.

Earlier on Saturday, the Vatican said he would remain in hospitalized following his pneumonia diagnosis and will not deliver the weekly Angelus prayer – for only the third time in his almost 12-year-long papacy.

The pope’s condition had seemed more promising earlier in the week, with the Vatican describing him as responding “positively” to medical treatment for pneumonia on Thursday.

“Is the pope out of danger? No. Both doors are open. Is he at risk of immediate death? No. The therapy needs time to work,” said Sergio Alfieri, a surgeon who has previously operated on the pope, to reporters on Friday.

The pontiff was admitted to clinic in the Italian capital on February 14, and initially underwent tests for a respiratory tract infection. He was subsequently diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs after a later CT scan.

Francis, who is from Argentina, has a vulnerability to respiratory infections. As a young man, he suffered a severe bout of pneumonia that led to the removal of part of one lung.

In 2021, doctors also surgically removed part of his colon in relation to diverticulitis, which can cause inflammation or infection of the colon. He was hospitalized with bronchitis in 2023, and in recent months has had two falls where he bruised his chin and hurt his arm which was put into a sling.

‘An extraordinary man’

This is the third-longest time Francis has spent in hospital since his election as pope.

His doctors have advised “complete rest” for the pope. Even so, he has continued to do some work, including on the first two days of hospitalization holding his daily phone call to Rev. Gabriel Romanelli and his assistant, Father Yusuf Asad, in Gaza City, northern Gaza. They have been in frequent contact since Israel launched its bombing campaign and siege on the enclave, following the October 7 Hamas-led attacks.

“We joked as always. He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humor,” the prime minister said in a statement.

Outside the capital, worshipers have gathered in candle-lit churches – from Argentina to the Vatican – to pray for Francis’ steady recovery.

“We always put him in our intentions,” Rodomina Valdez, a 45-year-old Argentinian in the Metropolitan Cathedral, in the capital Buenos Aires, told Reuters on Wednesday. “But what we can do is put him in our prayers and offer fasting or in any case, some penance.”

Just outside St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, a German tourist, Klaus, said he hoped the pope “will have many strong years left in him.” And back at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, letters and drawings made by children in the oncology department showed colorful illustrations and messages wishing him well.

“I hope he gets well soon and that he can get back to his role,” Gaetano Bavagnini, a Rome resident, said. “He is an extraordinary man and an extraordinary pope.”