Pope Francis stable as blood tests show 'slight improvement'

ROME

Pope Francis’ health condition remains stationary, with his latest blood tests showing a “slight improvement” of the key inflammatory indices, the Vatican said in a statement on Wednesday.


The pope, hospitalized since last Friday, had breakfast and read some newspapers in the morning, while in the afternoon he worked with his collaborators and received a private visit from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Meloni, who spoke with Francis for 20 minutes, said she found him “alert and responsive” and full of good humor despite the recent diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia.

“We joked around as always,” Meloni said in a statement. “He has not lost his proverbial sense of humor.”

Meloni’s comments were a reassuring sign a day after the pope was diagnosed with pneumonia in both his lungs, with a further complication in his clinical conditions.


The Vatican said in a statement Tuesday that laboratory tests, chest x-rays and the clinical conditions continue to present a complex picture.

Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Friday with breathing difficulties due to bronchitis. Then, the insurgence of a “polymicrobial infection” required the use of antibiotic cortisone therapy, making the therapeutic treatment more complex, it added.

The pope’s fragile health, which required other four hospitalizations in recent years, has raised worries over the future of his pontificate.