By Cindy Wooden / Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis’ condition remained “stable” March 2, and he “did not require non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but only high-flow oxygen therapy,” the Vatican said in its evening medical bulletin.
The 88-year-old pope did not have a fever, it said, but “in view of the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains guarded.”
In the morning, the Vatican said, Pope Francis participated in a Mass “together with those who are caring for him during these days of hospitalization, then alternated rest with prayer.”
The pope had what his doctors described as an “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm” Feb. 28, which caused him to vomit and to inhale some of it, leading to concern that he could contract another infection. Signs of an infection could have included a fever and an elevated white blood cell count, neither of which was present, a source said.
The crisis also forced doctors to employ “non-invasive” mechanical ventilation using a mask; by the next day, he could alternate the mask and high-flow oxygen therapy administered through a nasal cannula.
As he continues to receive treatment in Rome’s Gemelli hospital, Pope Francis sent written thanks for people’s prayers, but he did not go to his hospital window as some people had hoped.
Young people and members of the House of Mary, both groups associated with the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate Conception, led the recitation of the Angelus prayer March 2 around a statue of St. John Paul II below the pope’s hospital window.
A couple dozen other people and many photographers and TV correspondents joined them.
The Vatican press office released a message from Pope Francis with a brief reflection the day’s Gospel reading, but also with a reflection on being hospitalized since Feb. 14 with breathing difficulty and a diagnosis of double pneumonia.
In his message, the pope thanked his doctors and all the medical professionals assisting him.
But he also told people, “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; 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.”
Pope Francis expressed his gratitude “for the prayers, which rise up to the Lord from the hearts of so many faithful from many parts of the world: 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 assured people he was praying for them, too, and said, “I pray above all for peace. From here, war appears even more absurd. Let us pray for tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and Kivu” in eastern Congo.
Giuseppe Perazzo was one of the first to arrive outside the Gemelli hospital for the midday prayer. At the time, hospital security staff were re-arranging the flowers, votive candles and cards people have been leaving for the pope at the foot of the statue.
Perazzo held a big sign encouraging Pope Francis to listen to and obey his doctors.
“He’s not just the pope,” Perazzo said, “he is also a man like us. He is one of us, so when he is released, I will feel better, too.”
A couple from India working in Rome, who identified themselves only as Alice and Tommy, said, “Today we have the day off, so we came to pray for the pope. He is a great person.”
Miguel Nascimento, an older gentleman wearing a large cross around his neck, stood tall as he recited the rosary for Pope Francis.
“I am here because I am a believer,” he said. “I used to be an altar server when I was a boy in Cape Verde.”
As people were praying at the hospital, Matteo Bruni, director of Vatican press office, confirmed that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute for general affairs in the secretariat, had paid their second visit to the pope in the hospital.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, was scheduled to lead the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square.
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