Pope Francis
The 88-year-old pope was hospitalized on Feb. 14 after a long bout with bronchitis, which developed into double pneumonia and revealed a polymicrobial respiratory infection.
They instead decided on an aggressive course that put his organs at risk.
Doctors say Francis needs two months of rest and convalescence at the Vatican, during which he should refrain from meeting with big groups of people or exerting himself.
Francis was admitted to Gemelli hospital on Feb.14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened. He later developed a life-threatening case of pneumonia.
WHAT'S HAPPENING
The Vatican said he was participating in the celebration of the Mass with other priests in the 10th-floor papal apartment in the Gemelli hospital.
The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, had two respiratory crises on Monday in a setback to his recovery.
The Vatican said Pope Francis had inhaled “copious” amounts of mucus in another setback.
The pope, in a message shared by the Vatican, thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers as he remains in the hospital.
Pope Francis had no further episodes of bronchial spasms like the one he suffered Friday, in which he inhaled vomit during a coughing fit.
The development marked a setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14.