Although they postponed their official state visit to the Vatican because of Pope Francis’ health, Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla met privately with the pope April 9, the Vatican press office said.
Although they postponed their official state visit to the Vatican because of Pope Francis’ health, Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla met privately with the pope April 9, the Vatican press office said.
As the Vatican attempts to engage both Ukrainian and Russian officials amid ongoing efforts to secure a ceasefire, Pope Francis is sending four ambulances to Ukraine filled with medical supplies for Easter.
With thousands of infirmed people and those who care for them gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a nasal cannula, made an unexpected appearance to greet the crowd.
Pope Francis’ condition remains stable, and an X-ray showed there has been a slight improvement regarding his lingering lung infection, the Vatican press office said.
For Pope Francis’ medical team at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, Feb. 28 was the worst day.
Pope Francis was released from the hospital on Sunday, March 23 after he battled a life-threatening case of double pneumonia.
Pope Francis no longer needs the “noninvasive mechanical ventilation” he has used most nights since experiencing a breathing “crisis” Feb. 28, his doctors reported in a bulletin released by the Vatican press office March 19.
For the first time since Pope Francis was hospitalized in mid-February, the Vatican press office released a photograph of him March 16; the image shows him concelebrating Mass that morning in the chapel of his suite of rooms at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
Marking the 12th anniversary of Pope Francis’s election, Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered prayers for the Holy Father’s recovery on behalf of Catholics in the United States, and highlighted the shared commitment both sides have for global peace.
As Pope Francis celebrates 12th anniversary of his election in the hospital, the papal biographer told The Tablet that the pontiff has “given a very significant witness these last few years … which in many ways is comparable to the witness that John Paul II gave … demonstrating or communicating that the papacy is for life, that it’s a mission, not a job.”