On February 14, Pope Francis was hospitalized in Gemelli Hospital with bronchitis and since he has been the hospital he contracted a case of double pneumonia and kidney insufficiency.
Pope Francis, 88 years old, has been Pope since 2013 and is the first Jesuit Pope and the first pope from the America’s. Francis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and his name before being pope was Jorge Mario Bergoglio. As Pope, he has dedicated his papacy to mercy, justice, and care for the vulnerable.
As a young man he developed pleurisy, a condition where inflammation of the pleura causes the membranes to rub and grate against each other, and had a part of his lung removed. This has worsened his condition making his double pneumonia more intense.
For the past two years the Pope has been through many illnesses including many lung infections that started after part of his lung was removed.
Since his hospitalization, the Pope has been on large amounts of oxygen and had a kidney insufficiency. On Wednesday, his kidney insufficiency receded but he is still fighting the double pneumonia.
Although he is hospitalized, Pope Francis is still doing work for the Vatican and today he attended Holy Mass along with the people who are taking care of him in the hospital.
Today is the fourteenth day he has been in the hospital and since yesterday he has not had anymore respiratory crises. This is the longest that Pope Francis has spent in the hospital. He remains in a “critical but stable” condition and is slowly improving.
The Catholic Church has been devotedly praying for the Pope’s recovery. On Monday evening, hundreds of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the rosary for the Pope. Throughout the world, Masses have been offered and rosaries have been prayed for the Pope and his health.
