{"id":841673,"date":"2025-04-17T21:12:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/pope-alert-and-cheerful-in-hospital-says-italys-pm-after-visit\/"},"modified":"2025-04-17T21:12:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T02:12:02","slug":"pope-alert-and-cheerful-in-hospital-says-italys-pm-after-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/17\/pope-alert-and-cheerful-in-hospital-says-italys-pm-after-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope alert and cheerful in hospital, says Italy\u2019s PM after visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"primary\">\n<article id=\"post-2921702\">\n<p><template id=\"tmpl-rappler-speechify-button-play\"><br \/>\n\t<\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"tmpl-rappler-speechify-button-upgrade\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p><template id=\"tmpl-rappler-speechify-cta\"><\/p>\n<p>Already have Rappler+? <br \/> to listen to groundbreaking journalism.<\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"ai-summary-section-container\">\n<p id=\"ai-summary-warning-label\">This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img width=\"1770\" height=\"1180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/tachyon\/2025\/02\/kids_POPE-HEALTH.jpg\" alt=\"Pope alert and cheerful in hospital, says Italy\u2019s PM after visit\" fetchpriority=\"high\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\"  ><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPRAYING FOR POPE. Children make a prayer for Pope Francis, next to the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for his ongoing respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 19, 2025. \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\tREUTERS\/Yara Nardi\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><em>(1st UPDATE) Outside the Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis is staying for treatment, people are leaving flowers and small personal notes, wishing a speedy recovery for the pontiff <\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>VATICAN CITY \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/people\/p00329621-pope-francis\/\">Pope Francis<\/a> is alert and cheerful as he battles double pneumonia in hospital, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday, February 19, after paying a visit to the ailing leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church.<\/p>\n<p>The 88-year-old Pope is undergoing treatment at Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on Friday after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days, in what was first described as bronchitis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am very happy to have found him alert and responsive,\u201d Meloni, the first known hospital visitor for Francis, said in a statement. \u201cWe joked as always. He hasn\u2019t lost his proverbial sense of humour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Francis has the onset of double pneumonia, the Vatican said on Tuesday, complicating his treatment. Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>The Vatican had said previously that the Pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a \u201ccomplex clinical situation\u201d.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/philippines\/manila-archbishop-jose-cardinal-advincula-prayers-pope-francis-health\/\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t \t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"449\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/tachyon\/2024\/12\/cardinal-vidal-solemnity-nativity-lords-mass-december-24-2024-003-scaled.jpg?fit=449%2C449\" alt=\"Hold community prayers for Pope Francis, says Manila archbishop\" loading=\"lazy\"  ><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t \t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorized to speak about the Pope\u2019s condition, said on Wednesday Francis was not on a ventilator and was breathing on his own.<\/p>\n<p>The official said the Pope had been able to get out of bed and sit in an armchair in his hospital room, and was continuing to do some work.<\/p>\n<p>The Vatican is expected to give a further update on the Pope\u2019s condition later on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Messages of support for Francis have come in from around the world, the Vatican\u2019s official media outlet reported. Pilgrims at the Vatican on Wednesday for the Pope\u2019s cancelled weekly audience expressed hope for his recovery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will pray for him so that he can recover as soon as possible,\u201d said Gianfranco Rizzo, a pilgrim from Bari, Italy.<\/p>\n<p>The Pope has been plagued by ill health in recent years, including regular bouts of flu, sciatica nerve pain and an abdominal hernia that required surgery in 2023. As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.<\/p>\n<p>All the Pope\u2019s public engagements have been cancelled through Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican\u2019s published calendar.<\/p>\n<h5 id=\"h-targeted-therapy\">\u2018Targeted therapy\u2019<\/h5>\n<p>Gemelli hospital, Rome\u2019s largest, has a special suite for treating popes, and is known especially for often treating the late Pope John Paul II during his long papacy.<\/p>\n<p>Francis spent nine days at Gemelli in June 2023, when he had surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.<\/p>\n<p>Outside the hospital on Wednesday, people were leaving flowers and personal notes under a statue of John Paul II, wishing Francis a speedy recovery.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/world\/global-affairs\/pope-francis-double-pneumonia-what-it-means\/\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t \t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"449\" height=\"299\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/tachyon\/2025\/02\/get-well_POPE-HEALTH.jpg?fit=449%2C449\" alt=\"Pope Francis has double pneumonia \u2013 what does that mean?\" loading=\"lazy\"  ><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t \t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Victoria Darmody, a tourist from England, said she came to the hospital just to be near the pope. \u201cWe were hoping to go to the papal audience today but felt this was the right place to be instead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Andrea Vicini, a Jesuit priest and medical doctor, said it was notable that the Vatican\u2019s statement on Tuesday referred to the pontiff as having the onset of pneumonia and not bronchopneumonia. The latter would indicate an infection that is more widespread, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt (sounds like) it\u2019s more localized and has not spread,\u201d said Vicini, a professor at Boston College, who said he did not have details of the pope\u2019s case beyond the Vatican\u2019s public statements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they identified the pathogen, as I expect they would have done, they will have a very targeted therapy,\u201d he said. \u201cI am optimistic. It seems they are controlling what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Work at the Vatican was continuing as the pope was in hospital. One senior official, Cardinal Michael Czerny, was expected to depart on Wednesday for a five-day visit to Lebanon.<\/p>\n<p>The Vatican\u2019s top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, returned to Rome as scheduled on Wednesday from a trip to Burkina Faso. <strong>\u2013 Rappler.com<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"moodmeter\">\n<div>\n<p>How does this make you feel?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span>Loading<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\t<template id=\"cx_after-article-template\"><\/p>\n<article data-is-main-site=\"{{item.mainsite}}\">\n<p><h3>{{ item.sitename }}<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>\t<\/template>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> Reuters <br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rappler.com\/world\/global-affairs\/pope-francis-hospital-stay-pneumonia-updates-february-19-2025\/\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Already have Rappler+? to listen to groundbreaking journalism. This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article. PRAYING FOR POPE. Children make a prayer for Pope Francis, next to the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is admitted to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":841674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22455,115131],"tags":[9779,143269],"class_list":{"0":"post-841673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alert","8":"category-cheerful","9":"tag-alert","10":"tag-cheerful"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}