Rome – Rome (AP) – Pope Francis participate in the spiritual retirement of the Vatican of a hospital in Rome as he continued his Monday recovery of a double pneumonia And leaning on the 12th anniversary of his elections in the midst of questions about what the future of his papacy could look like.
Francis followed the opening of the retirement by videoconference on Sunday: he could see and hear the Reverend Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the Papal House, but the priests, the bishops and the cardinals of the Vatican auditorium could not see or hear it.
Pasolini delivered a meditation on “the hope of eternal life”, a theme that was chosen well before Francis was admitted to the Gemelli Hospital in Rome on February 14 With a complex pulmonary infection.
Retirement, which is an annual gathering which starts the Solemn lens season of the Catholic church leading to Easter, continues throughout the week. The Vatican said that Francis would participate “in spiritual communion” with the rest of the hierarchy, by far.
In his early update on Monday, the Vatican said that Francis was resting after a quiet night.
At the time of his hospitalization last month, the 88 -year -old pope, who suffers from a chronic pulmonary disease and had part of a lung as a young man withdrew, had then it was only a bad case of bronchitis. The infection has progressed in a Complex respiratory tract infection And the double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of its 12 -year papacy and raised questions about the future.
He has now stayed in a stable state for more than a week, without fever, respiratory crises and good oxygen levels in his blood for several days, doctors reported.
Doctors said that such stability was in itself a positive thing and showed that it was responding to therapy. But they kept his prognosis as “guarded”, which means that he is out of danger. Doctors had to provide medical update later on Monday.
Thursday, the Vatican will mark the 12th anniversary of the election of Francis, the first with the Off -Vue Pope but always very in charge. Francis was elected 266th Pope, The first Jesuit pope and first of Latin America, March 13, 2013 after the resignation of Pope Benoît XVI.
Sunday, Francis met Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the chief of staff, the Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, for the third time in the hospital. Such meetings are the way the Pope governs the Pope and shows that Francis always follows essential affairs.
While Francis previously congratulated Benedict for his courage and humility to resign, he said more recently No resignation plan.
Francis used high additional oxygen flows to help him breathe during the day and a non -invasive mechanical ventilation mask at night.
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(Tagstotranslate) Pulmonary disease