Vatican says Pope Francis is 'improving slightly' as cardinals acknowledge resig

Pope Francis overall clinical condition is improving slightly and his heart is working well as he battles pneumonia the Vatican said as some of his cardinals cheered him on and insisted that the Catholic Church was very much alive and well even in his absence In a late update on Thursday Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis has no fever and that his key heart parameters continue to be stableThe 88yearold pope was admitted to the hospital on February 14 after a case of bronchitis worsened doctors later diagnosed the onset of pneumonia in both lungs on top of asthmatic bronchitis and prescribed absolute rest If you really want him to rest you have to hospitalise himiquest quipped Cardinal JeanMarc Aveline the archbishop of Marseille France referring to Francis work ethicAveline was speaking at a Vatican news conference about a Mediterranean youth peace initiative alongside his counterpart from Barcelona Cardinal Juan Josegrave Omella But given the limited amount of information about Francis condition they were peppered with questions about the popes health and whether he might decide to resign if he doesnt recover fullyEverything is possible Aveline said Regardless Omella insisted that the life of the church continued even with Francis in the hospital Popes change we bishops change priests in parishes change communities change But the train continues being on the move Omella saidAnother cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi had commented earlier in the day on the possibility of resignation when asked if Francis might decide to follow in the footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI and step down if he becomes too ill Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to retire when he concluded in 2013 that he didnt have the physical strength to carry on the rigors of the globetrotting papacyThere is no question that if he Francis was in a situation where his ability to have direct contact with people as he likes to do was compromised then I think he might decide to resign Ravasi was quoted as telling RTL 1025 radio Francis has already confirmed that shortly after being elected pontiff he wrote a resignation letter in case medical problems impeded him from carrying out his duties There is no provision in canon law for what to do if a pope becomes incapacitatedThere is no indication Francis is in anyway incapacitated Bruni said he woke up Thursday got out of bed and had breakfast in an armchair and worked from his hospital room with his aides Blood tests have showed a slight improvement in some inflammation indices but it will still be some time before doctors will know if the various therapies are working The pope had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winterDoctors say pneumonia in such a fragile elderly patient makes him particularly prone to complications given the difficulty in being able to effectively expel fluid from his lungs While his heart is strong Francis isnt a particularly healthy 88yearold He is overweight isnt physically active uses a wheelchair because of bad knees had part of one lung removed as a young man and has admitted to being a notterriblycooperative patient in the pastArchbishop Giuseppe Satriano of Bari said he was sad that Francis was sick and that rumours about his condition were circulating but confident he would recover He recalled that Francis proved the naysayers wrong when he completed a gruelling fournation trip to Asia in September Even during the long trip in Asia the Swiss Guards and gendarmes came back more tired than he and we all feared hed come back destroyed Satriano said But hes a fighter so I think hell win this battleThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever