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Tag: Vatican

  • Vatican to cut phone signal during conclave

    Vatican to cut phone signal during conclave

    The Vatican said Monday it would cut the phone signal within the tiny city state during the conclave to elect a new pope — but this would not affect St Peter’s Square.

    The office of the presidency of the Governorate of the Vatican City State said that “starting from 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on May 7, all the transmission systems of the telecommunications signal for mobile telephones present in the territory of the Vatican City State… will be deactivated”.

    “The signal will be restored after the announcement of the election of the supreme pontiff,” it said in a statement.

    But the deactivation will not cover St Peter’s Square, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters.

    Thousands of faithful are expected to gather in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica to await the announcement of a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21.

    A total of 133 cardinals from across the globe will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to begin voting for a new head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

    The election is carried out in utmost secrecy and the cardinals will be required to leave their mobile phones behind when they enter the conclave, Bruni said.

  • Pope resting after ‘peaceful night’ – Vatican

    Pope resting after ‘peaceful night’ – Vatican

    Pope Francis was “resting” Thursday after spending a “peaceful night”, as he nears three weeks in hospital with pneumonia, the Vatican said.

    The 88-year-old had used an oxygen mask overnight for a third time, the Holy See said.

    The pontiff was hospitalised on February 14 at Rome’s Gemelli hospital with breathing difficulties but is now battling pneumonia in both lungs.

    Francis missed the formal Ash Wednesday celebrations in Rome marking the start of Lent, but took part in a blessing in the private suite reserved for popes on the 10th floor of the Gemelli.

    Christians across the globe, celebrating Ash Wednesday, prayed for the pontiff’s recovery, including in his native Argentina.

    Francis, leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics, has not been seen in public since his hospitalisation, nor has the Vatican issued any photos, although he has published several texts.

  • Pope slept all night, resting after two breathing attacks – Vatican

    Pope slept all night, resting after two breathing attacks – Vatican

    Pope Francis, hospitalised with pneumonia in both lungs, slept all night and was resting on Tuesday after suffering two bouts of acute respiratory failure the day before, the Vatican said.

    The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with bronchitis, which developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking alarm.

    On Monday, the pope “experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm”, the Vatican had said in its evening update.

    Acute respiratory failure, which can be life-threatening, occurs when the lungs cannot pass enough oxygen into the blood or when carbon dioxide builds up in the body.

    The Holy See added that Francis’s prognosis remained “reserved”, an indication that doctors cannot predict the likely outcome of his condition.

    On Tuesday morning, it issued a typically brief update saying: “The pope slept all night long and continues to rest.”

    It was the third crisis the Argentine pontiff has suffered since his admission to the Gemelli, where he is being treated in a special papal suite on the 10th floor.

    On February 22, he suffered a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis”, followed on February 28 by “an isolated crisis of bronchospasm” — a tightening of the muscles that line the airways in the lungs.

    – Global prayers –

    Medical experts warned Francis’s continued hospitalisation — the longest of his 12-year papacy — and the repeated crises were alarming.

    “At 88 years old, being in the hospital for two weeks and having repeated episodes of respiratory discomfort is a very bad sign,” Bruno Crestani, head of the pulmonology department at Bichat hospital in Paris, told AFP.

    Herve Pegliasco, head of pulmonology at the European Hospital in Marseille, added that with double pneumonia, “there is the issue of exhaustion, because he is forced to make much more effort to breathe”.

    The Vatican said on Monday the pope was alert and cooperative during his crisis, which required two separate bronchoscopies, where doctors look into the air passages using a small camera at the base of a flexible tube.

    The head of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics has been working during his time in the Gemelli, talking on the telephone and receiving some officials, according to Vatican sources.

    But Francis has not been seen in public for almost three weeks and the last photos taken of him were from his private audiences on the morning of his admission to hospital.

    The Argentine missed his traditional Angelus prayer for a third straight Sunday and the Vatican issued a written text instead.

    In it, the pope thanked the well-wishers around the world who have been holding prayers for his recovery, including outside the hospital and every evening at Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

    “I feel all your affection and closeness and, at this particular time, I feel as if I am ‘carried’ and supported by all God’s people. Thank you all.”

    Francis has suffered numerous health issues in recent years, from colon surgery in 2021 to a hernia operation in 2023, and uses a wheelchair due to hip and knee pain.

    He has always left open the option of resigning if his health declined, following the example set by his predecessor, German theologian Benedict XVI, but had before his hospitalisation repeatedly dismissed the idea.

  • Pope suffers breathing ‘crisis’ – Vatican

    Pope suffers breathing ‘crisis’ – Vatican

    Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, suffered a breathing “crisis” on Friday which caused him to vomit, but he was given air and responded well, the Vatican said.

    The 88-year-old, who has spent the past two weeks at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, “presented an isolated crisis of bronchospasm which… led to an episode of vomiting with inhalation and a sudden worsening of the respiratory picture”, it said in a statement.

    “The Holy Father promptly underwent broncho-aspiration and began non-invasive mechanical ventilation, with a good response on gas exchange,” it said.

    Francis “remained alert and oriented at all times, cooperating with the therapeutic maneuvers,” it added.

    The pope was hospitalized on February 14 for breathing difficulties but his condition deteriorated into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking widespread alarm.

    He suffered a breathing attack at the weekend, but since then appeared to have been getting slightly better, with the Vatican releasing more optimistic medical updates.

    A Vatican source went so far Friday as to say Francis’s condition was not currently critical following incremental improvements in his condition.

    But the Vatican has not yet modified the pope’s prognosis of “reserved”, — which means doctors will not predict changes in his health.

    Medical experts have warned that Francis’s age and the chronic respiratory disease from which he suffers mean a sustained recovery could take time.

    And Friday’s bulletin from the Vatican stressed once again that his “prognosis remains reserved”.

    This hospital stay is Francis’s longest since he was elected pope in 2013.

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  • Hospitalised pope no longer in critical condition – Vatican

    Hospitalised pope no longer in critical condition – Vatican

    Pope Francis’s condition is not currently critical, a Vatican source said Friday, after a series of clinical improvements for the 88-year-old pontiff suffering from pneumonia in both lungs.

    The Argentine pope has spent the past two weeks at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, with the Vatican reporting incremental improvements in his condition in recent days.

    A Vatican source said Friday that the “criticality has passed, for the moment”, while cautioning that Francis’s overall condition “remains complex” and his prognosis still “reserved”.

    Earlier Friday, the Vatican said the pope had spent another peaceful night in hospital.

    After being hospitalized on February 14 for breathing difficulties, the pontiff’s condition sparked widespread alarm as it deteriorated into pneumonia in both lungs.

    But there has been no recurrence of the breathing attack he suffered at the weekend and since then the Vatican has released more optimistic medical updates.

    On Monday, it said Francis showed a “slight improvement”, and on Tuesday noted that his condition was “critical but stable”, the last time it used the term “critical” for his condition.

    A “further, slight improvement” was reported Wednesday and on Thursday the Vatican said the “clinical conditions of the Holy Father are confirmed to be improving today also”.

    – Still reserved –

    The Vatican has not yet modified the pope’s prognosis of “reserved”, however — which means doctors will not predict changes in his health.

    Medical experts have warned that Francis’s age and the chronic respiratory disease from which he suffers mean a sustained recovery could take time.

    “Given the complexity of the clinical picture, further days of clinical stability are necessary to resolve the prognosis,” the Vatican said Thursday.

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    Francis — who has been pope since 2013 — has continued to work in hospital, where he is in a special papal suite on the 10th floor.

    He also has been doing breathing exercises in between resting and praying, according to the Vatican.

    This hospital stay is the fourth of his nearly 12-year papacy and his longest.

    In recent years, he has had surgery on his colon, a hernia operation, and pain in his knee and hip that have caused him to rely on a wheelchair.

    There has been speculation as to whether Francis might now resign, especially as his schedule has been packed with papal duties amid celebrations for the holy Jubilee year.

    “If the pope survives, many imagine that he will want to finish the Jubilee year, but that afterward, when he is 89, he will face the question of whether or not to resign,” Italian Vatican expert Marco Politi told AFP.

    Francis has always been open to following his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 stepped down because of his physical and mental health.

    But the Argentine pope, before his hospitalization, had repeatedly said it is not yet the time — and may never be.

  • Pope had peaceful night, up, eating, working – Vatican

    Pope had peaceful night, up, eating, working – Vatican

    Pope Francis passed another peaceful night in hospital, “got up and had breakfast in his armchair”, the Vatican said Thursday, the day after reporting a slight improvement in his condition.

    The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital last Friday with bronchitis, but it later developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking widespread alarm.

    Vatican sources said, however, that despite his illness the Argentine pope was still trying to work, reading and signing documents, writing, speaking with his collaborators and keeping up with the news.

    In a Wednesday evening update, the Vatican said the pope’s blood tests had shown a “slight improvement” and his clinical conditions were stable.

    He had enough energy to receive Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for a 20-minute visit.

    The far-right leader said in a statement afterwards she found him “alert and responsive”.

    “We joked as always. He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humour,” she said.

    The pope has already cancelled his appointments on his calendar this week, including a Saturday audience and Sunday mass at St Peter’s Basilica.

    But it was still unknown whether the pope would give the traditional Angelus prayer at midday following mass, which will be presided over by a cardinal in Francis’s absence.

    “We still don’t know how it will work,” said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni on Thursday.

    The double pneumonia diagnosis comes after the pope has suffered a series of issues in recent years, from colon and hernia surgery to problems walking and pain in his hip and knee.

    The Vatican has been issuing regular updates, however banal, in a bid to counter widespread speculation — particularly online — that he is dying or even dead.

    Wednesday evening’s statement pointed to a modest change for the better.

    “The blood tests, evaluated by the medical staff, show a slight improvement, particularly in inflammatory indices,” read the statement.

    Following breakfast, Francis “dedicated himself to work activities with his closest collaborators”, it added.

    A Vatican source had on Wednesday said the pope was “breathing on his own. His heart is holding up very well”.

    – ‘Confident he’ll make it’ –

    The pope, who has been head of the Catholic Church since 2013, keeps a full schedule despite his age and ailments, and this year is busy with celebrations of the holy Jubilee year.

    But he had struggled to read his homilies in the days before his hospital admission.

    The pontiff — whose birth name is Jorge Bergoglio — had part of his right lung cut away when he was 21, after developing pleurisy that almost killed him.

    Francis missed last Sunday’s Angelus prayer, instead sending a written text, but during previous spells in hospital he has delivered it from the balcony of the Gemelli, which has a special papal suite.

    Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, called on all parishes in the Italian capital to pray for the pope’s recovery on Wednesday.

    Candles, some with pictures of the pope on them, have been set at the bottom of a statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital.

    In St Peter’s Square on Thursday, Romanian tourist Suzanna Munteanu told AFP she worried over Francis’s health but was “confident that he will make it”.

    “I love this pope… Pope Bergoglio, very much, and he’s very dear to me, especially that he cares for the poor people, and I do hope he will recover very soon,” she said.

    The pope has left open the option of resigning were he to become unable to carry out his duties, as did his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

    But in a memoir last year Francis said it was just a “distant possibility” that would be justified only in the event of “a serious physical impediment”.