Vatican says Pope Francis is in critical condition

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Associated Press

Vatican says Pope Francis is in critical condition

BY NICOLE WINFIELD AND SILVIA STELLACCI
Updated 1:22 PM EST, February 22, 2025

ROME (AP) -- Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said.

The 88-year-old Francis, who has been hospitalized for a week with a complex lung infection, also received blood transfusions after tests showed a condition associated with anemia, the Vatican said in a late update. ... "The Holy Father continues to be alert and spent the day in an armchair although in more pain than yesterday. At the moment the prognosis is reserved," the statement said.

Earlier, doctors said that Francis was battling a pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection that doctors say remains touch-and-go and will keep him hospitalized for at least another week.

The Vatican carried on with its Holy Year celebrations without the pope on Saturday. ... In a brief earlier update on Saturday, Francis slept well overnight. ... But doctors have warned that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia. As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope's medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope's condition.

{snip}

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-pneumonia-sepsis-vatican-respiratory-infection-bab5b9a141517171d4efc71fadafa0a4

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Hat tip, Joe .My.God.

Vatican Says Pope Francis Now In Critical Condition
February 22, 2025

https://www.joemygod.com/2025/02/vatican-says-pope-francis-now-in-critical-condition/

— — — — — —

Original post started thus:

https://kstp.com/world/vatican-says-pope-francis-is-in-critical-condition/

By NICOLE WINFIELD and SILVIA STELLACCI The Associated Press
Updated: 7 minutes ago
Published: February 22, 2025 - 6:34 AM

[lapfog_1]

1. A *lot*of people are suffering from a dangerous pneumonia after catching the flu

my step daughter being one of them. 2 weeks fighting pneumonia... multiple trips to the hospital...
it's been a nightmare... and she is 22 years old.

[3catwoman3]

5. So sorry to hear this. I hope you will have better...

...news very soon.

[lapfog_1]

6. she is better now ( this weekend ), so I think the worst is over

but then she is a healthy 22 year old, fully vaccinated against everything.

OTOH, she is already doing hospital rounds as part of her medical school course work. Which I do worry about.

[3catwoman3]

8. Reassuring to hear that she is in med school, so at least she is somewhere...

...where good care should be readily available. And where she won't, or shouldn't, get scoffed at for taking strict precautions.

My nursing undergrad degree is from a well regarded institution, the University of Rochester in upstate NY, and that forever set my standards for what I consider an acceptable level of care. I will never live anywhere remote or underserved.

[LeftInTX]

10. The pope has bacterial, viral and fungal pneumonia all in one! And he's needing blood transfusions.

It does not look good...

[FakeNoose]

12. Ooof, that sounds extremely serious

Prayers

🙏

[generalbetrayus]

3. Sepsis is difficult to treat, especially in older people.

After repeated bladder infections, my 84-year-old mother died of sepsis.

[ificandream]

4. Nevertheless, I pray he pulls through.

We need him. Especially now.

[markodochartaigh]

7. I pray for Pope Francis.

I also am very concerned that the authoritarian forces behind the recent anti-democritization of the US have plans in place to elect a far more right wing pope when the time comes.

[hunter]

25. Francis will be my last Pope if the Church veers any further to the right.

[JoseBalow]

9. People are praying for him, he'll be fine

Maybe their god will change it's mind

[2naSalit]

11. Guess who is going to...

Demand that they get to pick the next pope?

[kskiska]

14. This would depend on whether white smoke or black smoke appears

when a new Pope was elected. I remember the one year where the color was undetectable.

[BlueKota]

27. He will probably demand he be named Pope.

Oh, but he'd probably look at that as a demotion as he already believes he's God!

[2naSalit]

32. Both good points...

We'll have to wait and see.

[SunSeeker]

13. His condition must really be grave if the Vatican says he's critical.

Sounds like his double pneumonia has turned into sepsis.

[kimbutgar]

15. He's been the most progressive pope in my lifetime

I hope he recovers.

[Hekate]

17. Exactly

[jrthin]

26. He's so progressive he didn't see the difference between Kamala and tsf. nt

[Hekate]

16. Pope Francis is one of the good ones on the world stage. I wish him well.

[rainin]

18. I want him alive for a very long time so he can reflect on his decision to refuse to endorse Harris because she wasn't

anti-abortion. We could have used his help when it mattered. I'm salty.

[claudette]

30. It wouldn't

have changed the mind of any magat or white men who either stayed home or voted magat because they didn’t want a woman president

[Botany]

19. The man has a lot on his plate.

The Pope has a lot of things going on organic lung disease, fungal, bacterial and viral
infections of his air ways above his lungs and double pneumonia too.

“Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs. They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it. Saturday’s update marked the first time the Vatican has referred to Francis suffering an “asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the application of oxygen at high flows.””

[cadoman]

23. he actually only has one lung -- the other was removed during childhood

https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/03/13/new-pope-had-lung-removed-during-childhood/

So someone here has their story mixed up...

[DenaliDemocrat]

24. Partially removed

Is how it’s been reported for years.

[claudette]

31. I read that he was

praying aloud from his hospital bed

[TNNurse]

20. The term "high flow oxygen"

may or may not mean mechanical ventilation ( ventilator or respirator as some still call), but it is damn close.

Will he recover? As someone who has worked in critical care...impossible to say, but not encouraging. But I have seen recover when no one expected it.

[BigmanPigman]

21. I expect Musk/tRump will try to stage a coup

to become the next Pope.

[elocs]

22. We all die. I am sure the Pope is ready given his beliefs. n't

[claudette]

28. 🙏

[BlueKota]

29. Praying for Pope Francis

I have disagreed with him on a number of issues, but on others he has done some good.

[multigraincracker]

33. A few years ago I survived sepsis. Didn't have any idea how close I was to death.

Haven't been the same since.
I wish him well as he was a Franciscan. Not perfect, still a little authoritarian, but nice to animals and the poor.
I was in Rome when he was made Pope and many locals told me the rich will poison him. I'm glad he made it this far.

[greatauntoftriplets]

34. I had sepsis last year.

Fortunately I was at the hospital for a minor procedure, started feeling off, and immediately went to the ER. My blood pressure was 44/33 there so they admitted me quickly. My case never got nearly as bad as yours, though I was hospitalized for a week.

You're very lucky to have survived it. It's one scary disease.

[multigraincracker]

36. My RN wife has saved my life a few times now. She made me go to the ER.

[greatauntoftriplets]

37. Good for her.

If I'd been home when I started feeling strange, I probably would have dismissed it and been a lot sicker. It took an hour at most from the end of my procedure to being on IVs. The ER wasn't busy that day, and I went from triage to an ER room in minutes. Still can't believe my luck.

I'm sorry that you're suffering after-effects from it.

[LeftInTX]

35. He's a Jesuit.

He's got a combination of viral, fungal and bacterial pneumonia. He's also needed transfusions, so it tells me that whatever it is, is somehow systemic. I don't think he's gonna make it.

My mom's appendix ruptured, but she never had pain, so they didn't know she had a ruptured appendix, but she was in shock. This went on for two days. Finally, they did some imaging and saw the ruptured appendix. They had to open her up and wash out her entire peritoneum.

Note: Both the Jesuits and Franciscans were active missionaries in the colonizing of the Americas. However, for some reason the Jesuits were expelled by the king of Spain and were replaced with Franciscans. They did return after the colonization periods were over.