1 of 4 | The Vatican said Friday that Pope Francis is on a breathing machine after suffering a sudden respiratory episode during his hospitalization. HIs prognosis “remains guarded.” Faithful attend a Rosary prayer for the health of Pope Francis who is hospitalized with pneumonia, in St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City, Feb. 24, 2025. The pope was admitted on 14 February due to a respiratory tract infection. Photo By Alessandro Di Meo/EPA-EFE
Feb. 28 (UPI) — The Vatican said Friday that Pope Francis is on a breathing machine after suffering a sudden respiratory episode during his hospitalization.
“The Holy Father, this afternoon, after a morning spent alternating between respiratory physiotherapy and prayer in the chapel, experienced an isolated episode of bronchospasm. This caused an episode of vomiting, which led to him inhaling some and a sudden worsening of his respiratory condition,” the Vatican statement said.
The prognosis remains guarded and the pope “was promptly started on non-invasive mechanical ventilation, to which he is responding,” the Vatican added.
Doctors will need “about 24 to 48 hours” to assess the pope’s clinical condition, the Vatican dsaid.
In an update on Friday night, the press office said he is responding to ventilation.
The pope is not out of danger and the prognosis remains guarded, according to the Vatican.
But Pope Francis remained “alert and aware at all times, cooperating with therapeutic treatments.”
Francis is 88 and has been hospitalized for two weeks with double pneumonia and had been improving.
During his hospitalization, he has suffered some kidney failure and has been in critical condition as doctors treat what they say is a complex clinical situation.
The Vatican announced Cardinal Angelo De Donatis will preside at the traditional celebration of the Ash Wednesday liturgy on the Aventine Hill. The master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations will lead a procession of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, Benedictine monks of Sant’Anselmo, the Dominican fathers of Santa Sabina and faithful.
Easter is April 20.
On Friday night, Argentinian Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández said: “Certainly it is close to the Holy Father’s heart that our prayers be not only for him, but also for all those who, in this particular dramatic and suffering moment of the world, bear the heavy burden of war, sickness, and poverty.”
The pontiff is from Argentina.