Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, celebrates a Mass to pray for Pope Francis with ambassadors accredited to the Holy See in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican March 14, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
by Catholic News Service
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After one full month of being hospitalized and treated for double pneumonia and other respiratory infections, Pope Francis' medical condition has decidedly stabilized, the Vatican press office said.
"There are no significant developments in the clinical condition of Pope Francis, who remains stable," the Vatican bulletin said. "For this reason, his medical team has decided not to release the scheduled bulletin on Friday evening."
No change to his condition is in itself a positive sign, the press office said on March 14.
The Vatican notice said that medical reports now will probably be released every two or three days -- rather than daily -- because recovery in this case "is slow."
Francis celebrated his twelfth year in the papacy in Rome's Gemelli Hospital.
The pope spent the past week following the Roman Curia's Lenten retreat March 9-14 by video, listening to the daily meditations led in the morning and afternoon by Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household.
Father Pasolini ended the last mediation by thanking the pope, whose absence was "more than justified." He joked that if the pope had planned to be absent to alleviate the pressure and fear of leading his first series of Lenten reflections for the Curia, then "mission accomplished."
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The pope suspended all work-related activities to dedicate the week to prayer and reflection, but he did continue to follow his prescribed physical therapies with physiotherapy and respiratory therapy, which often entails breathing exercises, in the mornings and afternoons, the Vatican press office said.
The pope still "is able to move and walk as he always has," a Vatican source said March 14. Sometimes he moves "with more assistance, sometimes with less," but those movements are limited, most often alternating between his bed and a chair.
He continues to use high-flow oxygen through a nasal tube during the day and "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" with a mask overnight.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, celebrated a Mass for the pope March 14 with ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.
"We gather in prayer this morning with the intention of the health of the Holy Father, that he might recover and return among us soon," the cardinal said at the Mass, celebrated in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace.
In the evening, Msgr. Lucio Adrián Ruiz, secretary of the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication, led the recitation of the rosary for Pope Francis which has been taking place every night since shortly after his hospitalization. The nightly prayer in St. Peter's Square was moved from 9 p.m. to 7:30 p.m Rome time.
