ROME — Pope Francis is recuperating after experiencing significant hurdles in his ongoing battle with double pneumonia. On Monday, the Vatican reported that he faced two acute respiratory crises, necessitating a return to noninvasive mechanical ventilation. By early Tuesday, the Vatican updated that the pope had slept through the night and was continuing to rest.
During these episodes, medical professionals extracted large quantities of mucus that had gathered in his lungs. This was accomplished through two bronchoscopies, where a camera-equipped tube navigated through his airways to remove the fluid. At 88, Pope Francis has a history of chronic lung issues and had part of a lung removed at a young age. Due to these recent crises, he has returned to using a ventilatory mask that delivers oxygen.
Despite the setbacks, the Vatican confirmed that Francis is conscious, cooperative, and interacting with his caregivers. While his condition is being carefully monitored, doctors have not specified whether he remains stable, though their reference to the respiratory crises in the past tense hints that the most critical phase may have passed.
This latest development marks a complicated, over two-week struggle for Pope Francis as he grapples with a multifaceted respiratory infection. The Vatican clarified that the mucus build-up was a reaction to the initial pneumonia and not indicative of a new infection. Lab tests confirmed no new bacterial presence.
Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care expert from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, noted that this recent episode is more concerning than a previous one, where the pope had a coughing fit and inhaled vomit. On that occasion, noninvasive ventilatory support was only needed temporarily. Coleman, who is not involved in the pope’s treatment, stressed that the requirement for bronchoscopies indicates that Francis struggles to clear the fluids independently.
Pope Francis, who is physically frail and typically uses a wheelchair, has been receiving respiratory physiotherapy to bolster lung function. However, the persistent mucous accumulation signals his difficulty in vigorously expelling these secretions.
Doctors often resort to noninvasive ventilation to prevent the need for more invasive methods, such as intubation. To date, Francis has not required intubation during his current hospital stay, and any specific guidelines he may have provided regarding his care remain undisclosed.
Catholic doctrine emphasizes the preservation of life from conception to natural death. It specifies that basic care, such as hydration and nutrition, must be provided to chronically ill or vegetative state patients. However, “extraordinary” measures prolonging life without benefit may justifiably be halted. Pope Francis espoused this principle in 2017, asserting that not all possible remedies are obligatory, sometimes making it morally permissible to withdraw excessive treatment.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, leader of the Vatican’s bioethics department, affirmed that Pope Francis would align with church teachings concerning end-of-life care. He remarked that the pope exemplifies a lesson on human fragility, using his current health ordeal to remind the elderly of their need for mutual support.
As of Tuesday, the pope’s hospital stay reaches its 18th night. It remains significantly shorter than the protracted hospitalizations experienced by St. John Paul II, particularly his 55-day stay in 1981 for surgery and an infection.
