Pope Francis

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Remember When the Pope Was at Death's Door? Not Anymore

Doc says Francis is 'lively,' showing 'truly surprising improvement' after long bronchitis, pneumonia bout

(Newser) - Pope Francis has shown "a truly surprising improvement" since returning to the Vatican to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff's five-week hospitalization said Saturday. "I find him very lively," Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope...

Pope's Doctors Were Close to Halting Treatment

Francis' doctors say he was close to death but that his nurse pleaded with them to keep him alive

(Newser) - Pope Francis returned home to the Vatican on Sunday, after being hospitalized for more than a month and suffering four "respiratory crises" as he battled bronchitis, then double pneumonia. Now, doctors at Rome's Gemelli hospital reveal just how close to death the 88-year-old pontiff came, and how they...

A Papal Thumbs-Up as Francis Leaves Hospital

Pope returns to Vatican after nearly 40 days

(Newser) - A weak and frail Pope Francis left the hospital Sunday after surviving a five-week, life-threatening bout of pneumonia, giving a thumbs up to an adoring crowd before returning home to the Vatican, per the AP . During the trip home from the Gemelli hospital, the 88-year-old Francis took a slight detour...

Doctors: Pope Francis Will Leave Hospital on Sunday

Recovery has been steady since 'two critical episodes,' physician says

(Newser) - After a five-week hospital stay for treatment of a touch-and-go case of double pneumonia, Pope Francis is scheduled to be discharged on Sunday. In making the announcement Saturday at Gemelli Hospital in Rome, doctors said he'll require at least two months of rest and rehabilitation, CBS News reports. Francis...

Vatican Releases New Photo of Pope
Vatican Releases
New Photo of Pope
Mar 16, 2025 1:40 PM CDT

Vatican Releases New Photo of Pope

It's the first time Francis has been shown in a month

(Newser) - The Vatican on Sunday released the first photograph of pope in more than a month, showing Pope Francis wearing a purple Lenten liturgical vestments sitting in a wheelchair in front of an altar in the hospital chapel. The Vatican said he was participating in the celebration of the Mass with...

Pope Marks a Milestone
Pope Marks a Milestone
Mar 13, 2025 1:17 PM CDT

Pope Marks a Milestone

Francis was elected 12 years ago, spends another day in the hospital

(Newser) - Pope Francis has marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate in the hospital as he received increasingly positive medical news on his recovery and hundreds of messages wishing him well. The pope spent the morning in physiotherapy, followed Lenten spiritual exercises of the Roman curia, and stopped to pray at...

Pope, Remaining Stable, Releases Message of Thanks

With Francis still stable, doctors plan to skip update Friday

(Newser) - Pope Francis' health status remained stable Thursday with no new respiratory crises or fever, and he worked from the hospital as he recovered from double pneumonia, the Vatican said. Given the stability, doctors said they didn't expect to provide a new medical update until Saturday. His prognosis remains guarded,...

Pope Francis Suffered 2 New Crises: Vatican

The pontiff is back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, Vatican says

(Newser) - Pope Francis suffered two new acute respiratory crises Monday and was put back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, in another setback to his battle to fight pneumonia, the Vatican said. Doctors extracted "copious" amounts of mucus from his lungs during two bronchoscopies, in which a camera-tipped tube was sent down...

Respiratory Crisis Doesn't Recur, Pope Uses Less Help Breathing

Vatican update is more positive, though danger remains

(Newser) - Pope Francis spent "long periods" off a ventilator mask and had breakfast—complete with coffee—the morning after enduring bronchial spasms. Vatican officials said that the spasms did not return and that he does not have a high white blood cell count, ABC News reports. But Francis' condition remains...

Pope Has Another Scare
Pope Francis Has a Setback
Feb 28, 2025 2:46 PM CST

Pope Francis Has a Setback

Doctors don't know yet whether the bronchial spasm has caused deterioration

(Newser) - The Vatican said that Pope Francis was responding well to treatment after a bronchial spasm on Friday afternoon, a scare that caused him to inhale vomit. The pope did not need to be intubated during the crisis, the New York Times reports, but is now wearing a mask to help...

'Baby Catholic' Vance Responds to Pope's Criticism

VP strikes a conciliatory tone, offers a prayer

(Newser) - Vice President JD Vance acknowledged Pope Francis' criticism of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration Friday, without responding to any of its specifics or the pontiff's apparent criticism of Vance's own deployment of Catholic tradition to justify such policies, per the AP . Vance, who converted to Catholicism...

Cardinal Dolan: Francis Is 'Probably Close to Death'

But doctors say the night 'passed well' for pope, who's said to be in good spirits and sending messages on X

(Newser) - For the past 10 days, Pope Francis has been battling pneumonia in both lungs , had to receive blood transfusions for a condition tied to anemia—and now is in the beginning stages of kidney insufficiency, though doctors in Rome say it's under control and that the ailing 88-year-old pontiff...

Vatican: Pope Is in Critical Condition

Francis reportedly needed high flows of oxygen

(Newser) - Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said. Francis, who has been hospitalized for a week with a complex lung infection, received blood transfusions after tests showed a condition associated with anemia, the Vatican...

Report: Pope Francis Is Preparing for Death
Report: Pope Francis
Is Preparing for Death
UPDATED
Feb 19, 2025 1:00 AM CST

Report: Pope Francis Is Preparing for Death

Politico reports he's tying up loose ends, believing his days are numbered

(Newser) - The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis, hospitalized with a respiratory tract infection, has developed pneumonia in both lungs. The pontiff was initially hospitalized with bronchitis, but pneumonia is a "deeper and far more serious infection," especially when both lungs are impacted, the AP reports. Even so, the...

Pope's Health Is a 'Complex Clinical Picture'

Francis will remain hospitalized for respiratory tract infection

(Newser) - Pope Francis' respiratory tract infection is presenting a "complex clinical picture" that will require further hospitalization, the Vatican said Monday as concerns grew about the increasingly frail health of the 88-year-old pontiff. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the results of tests conducted in recent days indicate the pope is...

Prescription for Pope: 'Absolute Rest'

Tests confirm respiratory infection after Francis enters hospital

(Newser) - Doctors on Saturday prescribed "absolute rest" for Pope Francis and modified the treatment for his respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said, a day after the 88-year-old pope was admitted to a hospital following a weeklong bout of bronchitis. Francis won't deliver his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he...

Trump's Border Czar: Vatican Is Walled Off, Isn't It?

Homan takes issue with pope's criticism of mass deportations

(Newser) - US border czar Tom Homan immediately pushed back after Pope Francis issued a major rebuke Tuesday to the Trump administration's plans for mass deportations of migrants, the AP reports. Homan, a Catholic, said Francis should fix the Catholic Church and leave US border protection to his department. "He...

Pope Delivers a Rebuke to JD Vance
Pope Takes Issue
With JD Vance
Feb 11, 2025 11:44 AM CST

Pope Takes Issue With JD Vance

Francis calls out vice president's theological defense of mass deportation in rare rebuke

(Newser) - Pope Francis issued a major rebuke on Tuesday to the Trump administration's plans for mass deportation of migrants, warning that the forceful removal of people purely because of their illegal status deprives them of their inherent dignity and "will end badly." Francis took the remarkable step of...

Pope Warns Against Dangers of 'Brain Rot'

He speaks out on 'the addiction to continuous scrolling on social media'

(Newser) - Pope Francis, noting that the term "brain rot" was the Oxford dictionary's word of the year for 2024, urged people to rediscover the "courage to free the heart from what corrupts it" in a speech Saturday. "The choices of each of us count, for example, in...

Pope Adds Warning on Antisemitism to Angelus Prayer

Holocaust must never be denied, Francis says before Remembrance Day

(Newser) - Pope Francis warned of the "scourge of antisemitism" in his Angelus prayer on Sunday, the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, noting it marks 80 years since the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. "The horror of the extermination of millions of Jewish people and others of different...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser