March 4 (UPI) — The Vatican on Tuesday called the health condition of Pope Francis “guarded” and “complex” as he remained in a stable condition with double pneumonia, according to Vatican officials.
The pope “is no longer using the non-invasive mechanical ventilation,” the Vatican’s press officer Matteo Bruni reported.
Francis received the Eucharist in the morning and spent the day alternating between rest and prayer, the Vatican added.
His overall clinical condition “remains stable,” including his heart, kidney and blood values, according to a Vatican official. However, the prognosis remains “guarded” and the overall situation is “complex.”
The 88-year-old pontiff suffered two episodes of acute “acute respiratory failure” Monday night due to mucus buildup and was back on a ventilator as he remained hospitalized with double pneumonia symptoms.
In the morning, officials said Francis “slept through the night” on his 19th evening “and now continues to rest” at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he was taken off a ventilator mask.
Francis has lead the Catholic Church since 2013.
“Today the person is a slave and we have to free ourselves of these economic and social structures that make us slaves,” Francis said not long after his enthronement, as he encouraged followers to “get involved in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good.”
He was first admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 diagnosed due to a “worsening of his bronchitis.”
But he was “alert, cooperating with therapy and oriented” on Tuesday and underwent a “high-flow oxygen therapy and respiratory physiotherapy.”
A spokesman says the pope was getting “high-flow oxygen” via nasal tube in what appeared to be a good sign after recent days, but overnight he is expected to resume noninvasive mechanical ventilation into Wednesday morning “as planned.”
On Monday, Cardinal Robert Prevost, the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, presided over a prayer service attended by cardinals, bishops and scores of religious faithful as he invited those to “remain in prayer with Mary, Mother of the Church, for the health of the Holy Father Francis.”
“This was my only night off from work and I didn’t want to be anywhere else,” a 24-year-old Argentinian named Jose told the National Catholic Reporter on Friday. “Francis cannot die,” he added.
Meanwhile, officials said there will be a new medical report update on Francis in the evening.
