Respiratory Crisis Doesn't Recur, Pope Uses Less Help Breathing

Vatican update is more positive, though danger remains
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 1, 2025 2:10 PM CST
Respiratory Crisis Doesn't Recur, Pope Uses Less Help Breathing
A Mass with the poor for the health of Pope Francis is celebrated Saturday at an underground chapel under St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.   (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Pope Francis spent "long periods" off a ventilator mask and had breakfast—complete with coffee—the morning after enduring bronchial spasms. Vatican officials said that the spasms did not return and that he does not have a high white blood cell count, ABC News reports. But Francis' condition remains complex, they indicated, and the prognosis for the 88-year-old pope remains guarded, suggesting he's not out of danger. Still, the Vatican's update Saturday was more positive, per the AP.

"The night passed peacefully, the pope is resting," the Holy See Press Office said. Vatican sources stressed that Francis can move and walk with occasional help, and that he prayed for about 20 minutes in the hospital's chapel. He's reported to be in a good mood, per CNN, and read newspapers in the morning. The fact that the pope was using just high-flow oxygen for long periods on Saturday, without a significant effect on the oxygen levels in his blood, indicates respiratory function was improving, per the AP. Doctors said he's stable but haven't referred to "critical condition" for four days. (More Pope Francis stories.)

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