Pope Francis spends peaceful night after breathing crisis, Vatican says | Pope Francis

Pope Francis, who has been in hospital for two weeks with pneumonia in both lungs, has spent a peaceful night after suffering a breathing crisis, the Vatican said.

Francis, 88, had suffered an “isolated breathing crisis” that caused him to vomit and provoked a “sudden worsening” of his respiratory condition, the Vatican said.

An official said the crisis on Friday did not last for long and that the pontiff’s doctors were expected to need 24 to 48 hours to assess how the event would affect his clinical condition.

The episode at Gemelli hospital in Rome came after three days in which the pope’s health had shown slight improvements, meaning his situation was no longer considered critical.

“The pope spent a peaceful night and is resting,” the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.

Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February with bronchitis, but his condition deteriorated into double pneumonia.

He is prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed while he was training to be a priest in his native Argentina.

Medical experts have said that Francis’s age and the chronic respiratory disease from which he suffers mean a sustained recovery will take time.

The pope was also admitted to hospital in March 2023 for what was eventually diagnosed as pneumonia, and he also underwent a colon operation in June 2021. He has often been seen using a wheelchair or a walking stick as a result of sciatic nerve pain and a knee problem.

He maintained an intense schedule until his latest hospital admission, however, particularly with events related to the Catholic jubilee year.

He has continued to work from the special hospital suite on the Gemelli’s 10th floor and also been doing breathing exercises in between resting and praying, according to the Vatican.