"Fragile and not out of danger": Pope Francis' Medical Team at Friday Press Conference

The Gemelli medical team head confirmed that the pope continues to read, work, and sign documents while at the hospital.

Elaborating on the specific details of the Holy Father’s medical condition, Alfieri said: “He had pus with a respiratory tract infection … At first there was no pneumonia [but] in the following days we noticed with a CT scan a bilateral pneumonia that is still there.” 

Though the pope is “not attached to machines,” he occasionally uses oxygen support to assist his breathing. Alfieri added: “He knows he is in danger, the risk can be that of sepsis, that is, germs passing into the blood. But today there is no such situation.” 

At Gemelli, the pope’s medical reports are written by Alfieri, Carbone, and a team of infectiologists, gastroenterologists, cardiologists, and pulmonologists.

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Carbone, the pope’s doctor at the Vatican, told journalists on Friday that the Holy Father “is fragile and not out of danger [as] it takes very little to have imbalances.” 

“The pope has chronicities, such as asthmatic bronchitis, that can flare up,” he said. “The pope responds to the therapies that have been enhanced and not changed.”

“The pope is not a quitter,” Carbone told journalists toward the end of the press conference. 

Since Feb. 14, the Holy Father has undergone a series of daily diagnostic tests and complex cortisone antibiotic therapies to treat his respiratory infections and pneumonia alongside his other chronic illnesses.

Kristina Millare is a freelance journalist with a professional communications background in the humanitarian aid and development sector, news journalism, entertainment marketing, politics and government, business and entrepreneurship.