People join Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 28, 2025. Pope Francis has been hospitalized since Feb. 14 with double pneumonia. (CNS/Pablo Esparza)
Pope Francis had coffee and was reading newspapers Saturday after an alarming setback in his two-week recovery from double pneumonia: Doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted.
Doctors said it would take a day or two to evaluate how and if the Friday afternoon episode impacted Francis’ overall clinical condition. His prognosis remained guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.
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In its morning update on March 1, the Vatican said the 88-year-old pope didn’t have any further respiratory crises overnight.
“The night has passed quietly, the pope is resting,” the morning bulletin said.
The pontiff had coffee in the morning for breakfast, suggesting that he was not dependent on a ventilation mask to breathe and was still eating on his own.
A woman joins the recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 28. (CNS/Pablo Esparza)
In the late Friday update, the Vatican said Francis suffered an “isolated crisis of bronchial spasm,” a coughing fit in which Francis inhaled vomit, that resulted in a “sudden worsening of the respiratory picture.”
Doctors aspirated the vomit and placed Francis on noninvasive mechanical ventilation.
The pope remained conscious and alert at all times and cooperated with the maneuvers to help him recover. He responded well, with a good level of oxygen exchange and was continuing to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.
