CHARLOTTE — In light of Pope Francis’ continued ill health, Bishop Michael Martin is calling on Catholics to pray and engage in acts of kindness or sacrifice to be in spiritual communion with the Holy Father. He offered these thoughts to priests of the diocese’s 92 churches to share with the people at Masses this weekend:
"I and the Catholic faithful of the Diocese of Charlotte continue to monitor reports of the health of Pope Francis with deep concern for his wellbeing and with trust in God’s Providence. Pope Francis has been an example of faithful discipleship throughout his life and continues to offer us example even in the suffering he is experiencing in sickness. To all those who bear the cross of illness, know that our Holy Father is united to you during this critical time. I exhort all the faithful of our Diocese to pray and engage in some act of kindness or sacrifice to be in spiritual communion and support with Pope Francis. We offer prayers for him during this challenging time and entrust him to the care of his excellent medical team as well as to God’s blessing through the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius, and Our Lady Mother of the Church."
Votive candles and flowers are seen at the base of a statue of St. John Paul II outside Rome's Gemelli hospital Feb. 21, 2025, where Pope Francis is being treated for double pneumonia. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis' condition remained "critical" the evening of Feb. 23, his doctors said, with blood tests showing "initial, mild renal insufficiency, at present under control."
The pope has had "no further respiratory crisis since last night," said the medical bulletin published by the Vatican, but it said he was continuing to use supplemental oxygen through a nasal cannula.
A blood transfusion administered Feb. 22, the bulletin said, did prove beneficial "with a rise in the value of hemoglobin." However, it added, his platelet count was still low.
The 88-year-old Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14 and has been diagnosed with double pneumonia, "continues to be alert and well oriented," it said.
But "the complexity of his clinical picture, and the need to wait for the drug therapies to provide some result, dictate that the prognosis remains reserved," the doctors said.
In the suite of rooms reserved for the popes on the 10th floor of the hospital, Pope Francis "participated in Holy Mass, together with those who are caring for him during these days of hospitalization," the bulletin said.
The pope's doctors said reported Feb. 22 that he had experienced "an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the use of oxygen at high flows."
The Vatican released a message written by the pope for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer Feb. 23, but did not say what day the pope wrote it.
"I am confidently continuing my hospitalization," the pope wrote, "carrying on with the necessary treatment; and rest is also part of the therapy!"
Pope Francis thanked the doctors and health care workers for their care and also thanked people for the "many messages of affection" that he has received, particularly the letters and drawings sent by children.
"Thank you for this closeness and for the prayers of comfort I have received from all over the world," he wrote.
Many of those prayers have come from people who gather in the courtyard beneath his suite of rooms at the hospital. The immense stone statue of St. John Paul II is the focal point where visitors gravitate to pray and leave flowers, candles, rosaries, cards, drawings and notes. A sun-worn pot of plastic poinsettias was brightened by newer offerings of magenta orchids, white cyclamens and red roses.
One man, who came from Naples Feb. 23 set five helium balloons tied to a weight by the statue, one with a glittering rainbow and the words, "Get well soon."
Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, a member of the Little Sisters of Jesus who sits in the front row most Wednesdays at Pope Francis' weekly general audience, was also among the few who were praying in the courtyard late that morning.
While there have been more journalists in the courtyard than faithful most days, that changed about 10 minutes before noon Feb. 23. More than 60 young people and members of a community connected with the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculate Conception arrived to pray the midday Angelus. They were joined later by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary and the pope's former vicar for the Diocese of Rome from 2017 to 2024.
Father Giacomo Martinelli, who heads the academy's pastoral initiatives and was leading the group, told reporters the pope needs everyone's prayers "like Jesus in Gethsemane."
"Prayer works. It is God's power," the priest said.
Cardinal De Donatis told reporters that this was a time "to intensify one's prayers" and to ask God to give the pope strength. "We're here to help him feel our closeness" and "this strong embrace."
A few dozen other people made their way to the courtyard and joined a Franciscan friar who led the singing of the Angelus and the recitation of the rosary with three nuns.
A mother and her daughter, both wearing heart-shaped sunglasses, knelt before the statue and set down four red and silver heart-shaped mylar balloons tied to a pot of flowers.
"Francis is the pope of the frail and the weak," said the mother, Violetta. Now that he has become weak, too, "being here seemed the right thing."
She said she feels a special bond with Pope Francis because her daughter, Maria, was born around the same time the pope was elected in March 2013.
Many people had told Violetta that Maria would never be able to do many things because of her autism. "But she drew this!" the mother said, beaming, holding a drawing of the pope surrounded by people and the words, "Be strong Francis. We are with you." They hoped to somehow get the drawing to the pope.
— Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service
Pope has respiratory 'crisis,' doctors say 'prognosis reserved'
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Pope has respiratory 'crisis,' doctors say 'prognosis reserved'
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis experienced "an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the use of oxygen at high flows" Feb. 22, said the daily medical bulletin released by the Vatican.
In addition to needing more oxygen, which was administered through a nasal cannula, the bulletin said that the 88-year-old pope required a blood transfusion after tests "showed plateletopenia, associated with anemia." Plateletopenia is a low platelet count; in English it is more commonly called thrombocytopenia.
"The Holy Father's condition continues to be critical; therefore, as explained yesterday, the pope is not out of danger," said the bulletin released late Feb. 22.
"The Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday," the bulletin said. "At the moment the prognosis is reserved."
The pope's doctors at Rome's Gemelli hospital had told reporters Feb. 21 that they write the bulletins with the team of doctors treating the pope and release it through the Vatican press office with the pope's approval.
Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital Feb. 14 with bronchitis and trouble breathing.
Meeting reporters after the pope had been hospitalized for a week, his doctors said the pope had shown signs of improvement but is not completely out of danger as he fights double pneumonia and a respiratory tract infection.
The Vatican press office had already said early Feb. 22 that Pope Francis would not lead the recitation of the Angelus prayer in any form from the hospital. Some people had hoped he would go to the window of his room or at least send an audio greeting.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, in an interview published Feb. 22 in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, was asked about media speculation on whether the pope would or should resign.
"I think it is all useless speculation," he said. "Right now, we are focused on the health of the Holy Father, his recovery and his return to the Vatican; these are the only things that count."
The cardinal, who was traveling to Burkina Faso when the pope was hospitalized, returned to Rome Feb. 19. Many reporters expected him to go to the hospital to see the pope that day.
But he has not gone yet.
"I let him know that I am available if he believes it is necessary, but up to now there has been no need. And, in that regard, it is better that he is protected and has as few visitors as possible so that he can rest," Cardinal Parolin said. The pope's physicians also had said Feb. 21 they were trying to limit even the number of medical staff going in and out of the pope's room because of the danger of infection.
The cardinal also was asked if he was worried about rumors of people jockeying for power at the Vatican and about false information being published about the pope's health.
"Honestly, I have to say that I don't know if there is any such maneuvering, and in any case, I try to stay out of it," Cardinal Parolin said. "On the other hand, I think it is quite normal that in these situations uncontrolled rumors can spread or some offhand comment is uttered; it is certainly not the first time it has happened. However, I don't think there is any particular movement, and so far, I haven't heard anything like that."
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Pope's chronic lung condition plus infection are serious, doctor says
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Pope's chronic lung condition plus infection are serious, doctor says
VATICAN CITY — While Pope Francis' life is not in immediate danger, the level of multiple infections in his lungs means he is not completely "out of danger," said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, director of medical and surgical sciences at Rome's Gemelli hospital.
The biggest risk he faces is sepsis, that is, if the infection that is currently localized only in his lungs passes into his bloodstream and begins to affect the rest of his body's organs, the doctor told reporters in the hospital atrium Feb. 21.
Pope Francis will need to stay hospitalized for at least another week, he said, so doctors can continue administering a wide range of drug and clinical therapies aimed at eradicating the viral, bacterial and fungal infections in his lungs as well as aid his breathing with low doses of cortisone. The pope does have supplemental oxygen available to take in with a nasal cannula when he needs it, he added, specifying he is "not hooked up to any machines."
Alfieri, the surgeon who performed Pope Francis' abdominal surgeries in 2021 and 2023, and a large team of specialized medical personnel have been following the pope since he arrived at Gemelli Feb. 14 after more than a week of suffering from bronchitis and difficulty breathing.
The pope had been receiving care at his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, from Dr. Luigi Carbone, his personal physician, and his personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, for the bronchial infection and "dyspnea" or difficulty breathing, Alfieri said.
Because the pope wanted to be taken care of at his residence, Carbone said, multiple specialists came by, particularly because of the pope's previous chronic lung conditions: bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis, caused by years of respiratory problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis. These conditions cannot be cured, but they can be "controlled," Alfieri said.
These chronic conditions can have "flare-ups," Carbone said, "plus with his age, by definition, he is a fragile patient."
The treatment required the use of cortisone antibiotic therapy, Alfieri said, which unfortunately also lowers the patient's immune system and affects glucose levels. The pope does not have diabetes, he added, but it shows the need to keep dosages low, but high enough to be effective.
When it was no longer possible to take care of these problems "at home," he said, the pope was brought to the hospital.
When Pope Francis was admitted to the hospital, Alfieri said, tests showed an infection in his respiratory airways and not in his lungs. However, a CT scan conducted later showed the pope had double pneumonia, which was announced to the press Feb. 18.
The medical therapy underway was not changed, he said, but was strengthened. It will take time to now see how it goes, even though tests have shown there has been a slight improvement the past two days, he has no fever and his condition is much better than when he arrived.
"But the question is, 'Is the pope out of danger?' No, the pope is not out of danger" because of multiple factors: the pope's age and a severe infection that resulted in double pneumonia, Alfieri said.
However, "if you ask, 'Is his life in immediate danger?' The answer is still, no," he added.
"He is not bedridden," Alfieri said. The pope is mentally sharp and "in good spirits." He gets out of bed and can move around. He also reads and works with his two or three closest collaborators who come by.
For example, he just spent 20 minutes praying in the chapel near his room today, the doctor said. However, he is also very ill and like anyone with double pneumonia, does not feel like doing too much.
His appetite is good, and he is eating, Carbone added.
It takes time to get over pneumonia, Alfieri said. The pope will be kept at the hospital for as long as hospital-level care is required and until the pope can return safely to his Vatican residence and be taken care of by his personal doctor and nurse.
In the meantime, the Vatican officially announced the cancellation of the pope's appointments through Feb. 23, including his planned celebration of Mass that day for the Jubilee of Deacons, which will be celebrated instead by Archbishop Rino Fisichella.
A Vatican source had said his written message for Lent, which begins March 5, was expected to be released next week.
As of Feb. 21, there was no word about the Sunday Angelus and whether the pope would make an appearance at the window of the suite of rooms reserved for him on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital or if he would release a text to be published like he had done Feb. 16.
— Carol Glatz, OSV News
Pope continues showing 'slight' improvement, Vatican says
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Pope continues showing 'slight' improvement, Vatican says
VATICAN CITY — On his sixth full day in Rome's Gemelli hospital, "the Holy Father's clinical condition is improving slightly," the Vatican said.
He continues to be without fever and "his hemodynamic parameters continue to be stable," said an evening bulletin Feb. 20. "Hemodynamic parameters" refer to a series of tests measuring cardiac output and other indicators of whether a patient's heart health is being impacted by a given therapy.
"He received the Eucharist this morning and afterward dedicated time to work," the bulletin said. Previously, the Vatican said he was reading and working on texts. The suite of rooms reserved for the pope on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital includes an office for the pope's secretaries and a chapel.
The morning bulletin Feb. 20 specified that the pope had gotten out of bed to eat breakfast.
Pope Francis, who celebrated his 88th birthday in December, has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14; he was diagnosed with double pneumonia.
While Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, did not confirm that Pope Francis had received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, it was presumed that he had since the church encourages those with a serious illness to receive it. It is not reserved to those in immediate danger of death.
Several times during Pope Francis' stay, his medical team -- made up of doctors from the Vatican and from the Gemelli staff -- have adjusted his medications to fight his respiratory ailment more precisely.
Spanish Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona, who was at the Vatican to present a peace and dialogue initiative for young people around the Mediterranean Sea, was stopped by reporters Feb. 20 outside the Vatican press office and asked about the pope's health.
With the medical bulletins the Vatican is putting out, he joked, everyone needs to start studying medicine. But "the first lesson, I'd say, is that the pope is doing well."
The news that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited the pope Feb. 19 and that the pope was getting out of bed and had breakfast Feb. 20 in an armchair are good signs, the cardinal said.
"I have not been to the Gemelli, but it seems that things are going much better," Cardinal Omella said; "it's hopeful news."
A reporter asked the cardinal if he thought the pope would resign. Cardinal Omella said he had never asked the pope what he would or would not do.
"The pope knows what he has to do, I imagine, and since his head is fine, thanks be to God, he will decide," he said.
But "I hope the pope will continue," he said. "He has set the church on a good path," especially by promoting the synodal style of all Catholics taking responsibility for the mission of the church and by focusing the Holy Year on hope.
Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, France, who also was at the Vatican to talk about the Mediterranean initiative also was asked about Pope Francis' ability to continue to lead the church and about the possibility of a papal resignation.
"I'm not worried about his lucidity," the cardinal said, nor is he worried about the pope somehow lacking the freedom to decide whether it is best for the church that he remain or resign.
"He is a fighter," Cardinal Aveline said, not in the sense of being a warrior, but in the sense of being "someone who prays a lot. And what comes in prayer, what has matured, then he applies it, whatever the obstacles, whatever the difficulties."
In the Roman Missal, which contains the prayers used at Mass, there is a prayer that says, "Lord, give us a clear vision of what we have to do and the strength to accomplish it," the French cardinal said. "For me, that prayer describes his personality."
Retired Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi told the Italian radio station RTL that he could imagine Pope Francis resigning one day. "There is no question that if he were in a situation where his ability to have direct contact, as he loves to have, to be able to communicate in an immediate, incisive and decisive way was compromised, then I think he might decide to resign."
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the Italian bishops' conference, told reporters the fact that the pope was out of bed, was reading and had a visit from the Italian prime minister "means that things are going in the right direction toward a full recovery that we hope comes soon."
According to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, when Pope Francis met Prime Minister Meloni at the hospital Feb. 19, he joked: "Some prayed the pope would be taken to Heaven, but the Lord of the harvest decided to leave me here a while."
At the Vatican news conference the next day, both Cardinals Omella and Aveline said Catholics are called to pray for the pope and leave the future to him and to God.
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Pope continues to rest, do paperwork at hospital
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Pope continues to rest, do paperwork at hospital
VATICAN CITY — The morning after the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis has double pneumonia, the director of the Vatican press office said the pope had a restful night at Rome's Gemelli hospital.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters early Feb. 19 that the pope slept peacefully, woke up and had breakfast.
A CT scan Feb. 18 "demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy," according to the previous evening's medical bulletin.
The 88-year-old pope's history of lung problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis have resulted in "bronchiectasis," a widening of the airways that makes a person more susceptible to infection, and "asthmatic bronchitis" which makes "therapeutic treatment more complex," the bulletin had said.
Still, Pope Francis was reportedly getting out of bed each day, reading and doing some work. Although the doctors' orders for "complete rest" meant he was not receiving visitors, his secretaries were at the hospital with him.
Most evenings at 7 p.m. he was making his regular phone call to Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the priests and sisters on staff are giving shelter to hundreds of people.
A source, who was not authorized to give details of the pope's medical condition, said the pope's heart is "holding up well" and that he has not needed a ventilator, oxygen mask or CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine.
The source also confirmed that a couple of days before Pope Francis agreed to be hospitalized, he had gone to Rome's Gemelli Isola Hospital for tests. He has been an inpatient at the main Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14.
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Pope diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia
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Pope diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia
VATICAN CITY — After undergoing a CT scan Feb. 18, Pope Francis was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia, the Vatican said.
"The follow-up chest CT scan which the Holy Father underwent this afternoon," the Vatican bulletin said, "demonstrated the onset of bilateral pneumonia, which required additional drug therapy."
"Laboratory tests, chest X-rays and the Holy Father's clinical condition continue to present a complex picture," the evening bulletin said.
Doctors had said the day before that tests revealed a "polymicrobial infection" of the 88-year-old pope's respiratory system, meaning it is caused by a virus-bacteria combination. The infection, along with the "bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis," which the pope suffers from after years of respiratory problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis, "required the use of cortisone antibiotic therapy," it said, which made "therapeutic treatment more complex."
Still, the statement said, "Pope Francis is in good spirits. This morning he received the Eucharist, and throughout the day he alternated rest with prayer and reading texts."
Pope Francis thanked people "for the closeness he feels at this time and asks, with a grateful heart, that we continue to pray for him," the press office said.
Earlier in the day, the Vatican had announced that "due to the Holy Father's health condition," his appointments had been canceled through Feb. 22.
In addition, the note said, "Pope Francis has delegated Archbishop Rino Fisichella," pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and chief organizer of the Holy Year 2025, to celebrate the Mass and ordinations of permanent deacons Feb. 23.
Pope Francis was hospitalized Feb. 14 after more than a week of suffering from bronchitis and difficulty breathing.
A source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Feb. 18 that the pope was breathing on his own without the need for supplemental oxygen.
A statue of St. John Paul II stands outside the Gemelli hospital, which the Polish pontiff helped make known around the world because of multiple stays there, particularly after a would-be assassin shot him in May 1981.
As Pope Francis is being treated on the hospital's 10th floor, in the same suite of rooms St. John Paul and his entourage would use, people are leaving flowers, cards and lighted votive candles at the statue.
Father Jim Sichko, a priest of the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, left a card Feb. 18 along with a bottle of Kentucky bourbon. Although he did not sign his name, he used the hashtags #MissionaryOfMercy and #BourbonFairy, which led to his account on X.
By the time a Catholic News Service photographer arrived at the statue not long after Father Sichko had gone, the bottle of bourbon had been removed.
"Maybe someone brought it to the pope," he wrote in a message to CNS, which was unable to confirm the whereabouts of the beverage.
The Vatican had announced earlier that the pope would not be holding his weekly general audience Feb. 19. The Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan, who distribute free audience tickets in Rome to visitors from the U.S. immediately sent an email to all the individuals, couples, families and groups who had requested tickets.
Mercy Sister Maria Juan Anderson, coordinator of the Bishops' Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican, said they had expected to distribute 650 tickets, which included four pilgrim groups from U.S. parishes and universities.
Fortunately, only a handful of people missed the email: a newlywed couple hoping for the pope's blessing, one family and two priests, she said. "Everyone of course understands ... and they all said they were praying for the Holy Father."
The pope, who underwent surgery in 1957 to remove part of one of his lungs after suffering a severe respiratory infection, has been susceptible to colds and bouts of bronchitis.
In March 2023, he was hospitalized at Gemelli for three days for what doctors said was a respiratory infection. Pope Francis later said it had been "an acute and strong pneumonia."
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
As pope remains in hospital, Vatican announces schedule changes
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As pope remains in hospital, Vatican announces schedule changes
VATICAN CITY — In another sign that Pope Francis' stay in Rome's Gemelli hospital will continue for some time, the Vatican announced a substitute presider for the Mass and ordinations as part of the Jubilee of Deacons.
In a brief note to journalists Feb. 18, the Vatican said, "Due to the Holy Father's health condition," his appointments had been canceled through Feb. 22.
In addition, the note said, "Pope Francis has delegated Archbishop Rino Fisichella," pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and chief organizer of the Holy Year 2025, to celebrate the Mass and ordinations of permanent deacons Feb. 23.
The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized Feb. 14 after more than a week of suffering from bronchitis and difficulty breathing.
A source, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said Feb. 18 that the pope was breathing on his own without the need for supplemental oxygen.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters Feb. 18 that the pope again had rested well overnight, was eating regularly, reading newspapers and doing some work.
The Vatican had said Feb. 17 that test results showed that the pope is suffering from a "polymicrobial infection of the respiratory tract, which required a further modification of his therapy." Polymicrobial means multiple pathogens are involved.
The pope, who underwent surgery in 1957 to remove part of one of his lungs after suffering a severe respiratory infection, has been susceptible to colds and bouts of bronchitis.
In March 2023, he was hospitalized at Gemelli for three days for what doctors said was a respiratory infection. Pope Francis later said it had been "an acute and strong pneumonia."
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service