Pope Francis, 88 and admitted since February 14 at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome with pneumonia, will look tomorrow Sunday to the window of his room to greet the faithful at noon, at the time of Angelus. It was announced by the press room of the Holy See, after confirming that in the last week there has been a continuous improvement of the health status of the Pontiff. It will be, therefore, the first time that Francisco has been seen in public for 37 days, and it will be time to verify in what conditions it is, although only because of the aspect, because it is not expected to speak. He will simply greet and bless the faithful.
Until now the Vatican praying in his private chapel of the hospital. That was last Sunday. Before, on March 6, he released an engraved message that was issued in the Plaza de San Pedro during the prayer of the Rosary. At that time, rather than transmitting tranquility, it caused apprehension. However, the experts explained later that in pneumonia it is normal to virtually lose speech, and then recover it.
Cardinal Argentina Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery of Doctrine of Faith and very close to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, said Friday that the Pontiff is fine, “but he must almost learn to speak again.” “I have been able to be in contact with him and I am happy because physically it is fine, it is difficult for him to speak but the general state of the agency is as before,” he told the journalists, who approached him during a public act. “Now you will need a rehabilitation, because after so much time with high flow oxygen everything dries,” he said.
The main obstacle in the healing of the Pope is the recovery of respiratory capacity. For more than a month it has received mechanical ventilation and also high flow oxygen therapy with nasal cannulas. This week he has slept for the first time without a mask and is also reducing the oxygen supply. Performs respiratory and motor physiotherapy. The goal is to breathe autonomously again and can speak normally, something decisive when returning to their public activities.
At the moment there is no date to be discharged and returned to the Vatican. The Holy See is very prudent and has always talked about a long stay in the hospital, until it is definitely cured. “I could come back, but doctors want to be sure one hundred percent, because he thinks that in the short time he wants to devote everything to others, and not for himself,” said Fernández. That is, once he leaves the hospital, he will want to return to the work rhythm he had before. The doctors had to insist to go to the hospital when he was admitted on February 14, because he had been dragging for 10 days a chronic bronchitis that did not heal.
His return to public life is an important signal in the midst of. The Vatican has continually transmitted the idea that Francisco has always been aware and lucid and has maintained a certain workload, except in the critical moments of his convalescence. Bergoglio himself has said on several occasions that he would resign, as he did in 2013 his predecessor, Benedict XVI, if he did not see in a position to continue, but only in the extreme case. Neither he nor the Vatican are thinking about it at this time. Cardinal Fernández was clear on Friday when he was asked if the Pope could give up: “I don’t think, that is not.”
