By Pope Francis “rested well” throughout the night and remained in a slightly improved condition Tuesday as he continued to battle double pneumonia in a Rome hospital, the Vatican said.
“The Pope rested well, all night,” the Vatican said in a brief, one-line statement Tuesday.
The Holy See later provided an update, saying the 88-year-old pontiff had gotten up to continue his daily treatment and was eating normally. Francis also “resumed his work activities,” the Vatican said.
Additional CT scans were ordered Tuesday to monitor the pneumonia in both of his lungs, and the pope’s prognosis “remains reserved,” church officials said.
Francis has not had any new acute respiratory episodes and remains stable.
It said his condition remained the same as Monday, when the Vatican said Francis had shown a “slight improvement,” despite remaining in critical condition. He had also been able to resume work from his bed at the Italian capital’s Gemelli Hospital, including calling the “pastor of Gaza Parish to express his fatherly closeness.”
Meanwhile, a “mild kidney insufficiency” that had been reported over the weekend initially sparking some alarm was no longer being considered a cause for concern, the Holy See also said Monday.
People attend a rosary prayer for Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Monday night.Tiziana Fabi / AFP via Getty Images
Still, in an update, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni had cautioned that doctors “in view of the complexity of the clinical picture, conservatively do not yet change the prognosis from being guarded.”
Fears have grown over the pontiff’s condition after he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was later diagnosed with “double pneumonia,” or pneumonia in both lungs, with the pope suffering asthma-like symptoms over the weekend.
On Monday night, Vatican Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin led the first nightly masses with the cardinal of Rome to pray for Francis in St. Peter’s Square.
Hundreds of people could be seen in photos gathered in the square, where the pontiff blessed the people and asked for their blessing on his first day as pope.
“From this evening,” Parolin said Monday night, according to Vatican News, “we too want to unite publicly, here in his home, with the recitation of the Holy Rosary.”
“We entrust him to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” he said, adding: “May she, our loving Mother, support him in this time of illness and trial and help him recover soon.”
