POPE FRANCIS FACING HEALTH CRISIS

Photo Credit: CNS via Vatican Media

On Feb. 14, 88-year-old Pope Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital to undergo testing and treatment after suffering through a weeklong bout of bronchitis. 

Then, after a full week of treatment, on Feb. 22, the Vatican revealed in a statement that Pope Francis had undergone an "asthma-like respiratory crisis" and required supplemental oxygen. Furthermore, his blood tests revealed that he had thrombocytopenia — a condition caused by a low number of platelets in the blood — which needed to be treated with a blood transfusion.

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Gemelli Hospital, told reporters on Feb. 21 that the biggest danger Francis faces is that germs from his respiratory system will travel into the bloodstream, causing sepsis. Sepsis is the term for a whole-body response to an infection in the blood, which can lead to organ failure and death.

“Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of,” Alfieri added. “The English say ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they want. But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream.

“He knows he's in danger,” Alfieri added. “And he told us to convey that.”

Since his election as pope in 2013, Francis has been hospitalized several times, including one hospital stay in July 2021 for a narrowing of his large intestine and another in 2023 for bronchitis. Francis has chronic bronchitis and a history of respiratory issues.

After his most recent health crisis, Pope Francis received an overflow of global support from concerned citizens on social media and in-person. In a Feb. 23 post an X, Pope Francis thanked his supporters around the world for their “many messages of affection” and “consoling prayers”. He added that he was “particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children.”