Pope Francis was conscious, eating and in “good spirit,”a Vatican source said Monday, as worries persisted around the pontiff’s kidney and lung problems that have left him in the hospital for over a week.
Francis was eating normally, the source told NBC News’ international partner, Sky News. Though Rome’s Gemelli Hospital said via Telegram on Monday morning that the night had “passed peacefully,” doctors gave no further update as to whether the pope’s health has improved.
Fears have been growing about the pontiff’s condition after he was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14, and then had breathing difficulties and was later diagnosed with “double pneumonia,” or pneumonia in both lungs and over the weekend suffered asthma-like symptoms.
During a service on Sunday at New York’s Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Cardinal Timothy Dolan described Pope Francis as being “in very, very fragile health and probably close to death,” but did not elaborate on how he knew that information.
On Sunday, the Vatican said Francis, 88, remained in critical condition, with a previous update on Saturday having detailed his respiratory crisis. The Vatican had previously added that Francis had to be administered oxygen and required a blood transfusion after a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis.”
Beginning Monday, the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will lead nightly masses with the cardinals of Rome to pray for Francis in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.
“We are all very worried,” the pope’s cousin, 93-year-old Carla Rabezzana who lives in Portacomaro, Italy, told Italian news agency Ansa. “We hope he recovers quickly and overcomes this difficult moment. I follow everything on the news, and I am very anxious.”
Deborah Lubov contributed.
