The spiritual leader of Catholics and the President of Vatican City, Pope Francis, who has been receiving treatment in the hospital since February 14th, reportedly experienced acute respiratory failure twice today. The Vatican issued a new statement regarding the health status of the 88-year-old Pope, who has been hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for 18 days due to severe bronchitis at the beginning of February and diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. The statement mentioned that, “Today, the Pope experienced acute respiratory failure twice. The reason for this was the significant accumulation of mucus in the bronchi and the consequent bronchospasm. Therefore, two bronchoscopy procedures were performed. Mechanical ventilation was restarted in the afternoon. The Pope was always conscious and cooperative during these procedures.” The Vatican’s statement conveyed that due to the complexity of the clinical picture, doctors are maintaining a cautious approach towards the progression of the illness.
Pope Francis, who first publicly mentioned having bronchitis and difficulty breathing during two events on February 9 and 12, was unable to speak and asked his aides to read the speech texts at the time. He was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital on February 14th with a polymicrobial infection in his respiratory tract. The Vatican announced on February 18 that the Pope had developed bilateral pneumonia and his clinical condition was complex. On February 22, it was stated that the Pope’s condition was critical after experiencing an asthma attack. The Vatican announced on February 26 and 27 that there was improvement in the Pope’s condition. On February 28, it was reported that the Pope had a bronchospasm crisis, underwent bronchoaspiration, was put on mechanical ventilation, and responded positively to treatment. The Pope’s condition remained stable on March 1-2.
In recent years, Pope Francis, who has been the spiritual leader of Catholics since 2013, was hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital for the first time in 2021 and underwent a colon surgery. Using a wheelchair due to knee pains in recent years, Pope has been hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital twice in 2023, once for shortness of breath and once for a procedure to place a prosthesis on the abdominal wall.