ROME — For the first time since being admitted to hospital three weeks ago, Pope Francis has addressed the faithful in an audio message.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health in [St Peter’s] Square. I am accompanying you from here,” the 88-year-old said. The message was played on Thursday evening in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican before a large crowd.
“May God bless you and may the Virgin [Mary] protect you. Thank you,” Francis said in Spanish, his voice significantly weakened. The gathered crowd in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica then applauded.
Francis is suffering from a complicated case of double pneumonia.
His condition is “stable,” the Vatican said in an update.
The 88-year-old has not suffered any further episodes of breathlessness, the spokesman for the Holy See said. Throughout the day, he continued his respiratory and physical therapy, it said.
THE VATICAN also described the results of some blood tests as “stable.” The doctors remain cautious about giving a prognosis for further recovery.
Francis is now receiving almost constant supplemental oxygen, either through a breathing mask or tubes, according to people familiar with his situation, the Vatican said earlier Thursday.
He wears a mask over his mouth and nose at night to provide mechanical ventilation, while during the day he’s usually given oxygen through a tube in his nose.
According to the Holy See, the pope spent the previous night in hospital without new complications.
Since his admission to the Gemelli Hospital in western Rome on February 14, there have been several complications: he has suffered acute breathing difficulties four times, most recently on Monday.
