For centuries, one of the largest taboos in the Vatican was openly discussing the Pope’s health. As the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the Pope is a revered spiritual figure. Talking about his earthly health was unholy.
But while Pope Francis has been fighting double pneumonia at Gemelli Hospital in Rome since February 14, the Vatican has been trying something new. The Press Office of the Holy See has provided daily updates about its condition.
It provided details such as the use of high -flow oxygen by the Pope and his need for blood transfusions, and even described a “prolonged respiratory crisis similar to asthma” on February 22.
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“I was cautiously impressed,” said Greg Erlandon, an American journalist who has been covering the Vatican for decades.
Together, the updates “increase the confidence that we are receiving a very accurate summary” of the Pope’s condition, said Erlandson, former editor of Catholic News Service.
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John Thavis, the Vatican correspondent in three end, said that the new transparency “fits the open style of Francisco to communicate, but is a deviation from the traditional Vatican reserve on the theme of papal health.”
Two of the doctors dealing with Francisco said at a news conference on February 21 that it was the Pope himself who ordered the daily updates.
Doctor Sergio Alfieri of Gemelli Hospital said the instructions were to write updates “without retaining anything.”
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A person known to speak often to Francisco, who asked not to have his name disclosed not to discuss the Pope’s preferences without permission, said the Pontiff himself helped to write the updates in his early days at the hospital and pressed his doctors to give more specific details about condition and treatment.
Thavis stated that Francis “wanted the severity of his condition to be clear.”
Vatican authorities did not speak publicly about the reasons for detailed updates, but in particular several authorities expressed concern about the dissemination of erroneous information.
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Shortly after the Pope was admitted to the hospital, social media publications began to claim that he had died or received the extreme utterance. Also began to circulate false images generated by artificial intelligence that intended to show it being kept alive with the help of a fan.
The Pope’s daily medical updates have repeatedly informed that he is breathing on his own, but occasionally receives oxygen as necessary through a small tube under the nose.
“The Vatican has finally learned that it is better to be frank than to let the conspiracy theorists fill the void,” said Tom Reese, a Jesuit priest and commentator who covered the papacy closely.
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Pope John Paul 2, whose papacy lasted from 1978 to 2005, had visible tremors for years before the Vatican finally confirmed in 2003 that he had badly from Parkinson.
And stomach cancer that afflicted Pope John 23 for at least eight months was only revealed long after his death in 1963.
