Pope Francis issues an audio message, sounds weak for three weeks in his hospitalization with pneumonia

Rome – Voice of Pope Francis The public heard him on Thursday night for the first time since he had been admitted to the hospital three weeks earlier. The message was recorded from the 88-year-old Pope room at the Gemelli Polyclinical Hospital in Rome, Vatican reports.

“I thank you from the heart for the prayers for my health from the square,” Francis said in the message to those who prayed for him in St. Peter’s Square on the Vatican.

That Francis was able to talk to record the message was an encouraging sign, but his fragility could be heard in the recording. Francis’ voice sounded weak and breathless.

The Pope was admitted on February 14th with a bad case of bronchitis, which in both lungs switched to bilateral pneumonia. It would be a serious forecast for anyone, but especially for someone of the pope’s age – and even more so for a man who was removed part of one lung for a respiratory infection as a young man in his home country of Argentina.

In a clear failure, the Vatican said that Francis had suffered two episodes of acute respiratory failure on Monday. At one point, doctors had to intervene by aspiration of mucus from his respiratory tract. Since then, it has been alternated between oxygen and mechanical ventilation with high flow and, according to the Vatican updates twice a day, well rest.

Francis was determined to share an unprecedented level of detail when it comes to his health, following a century of secrets surrounding Pontiphs, as they were the end of his life – as well as an old Italian proverb that “Pope is always well until he dies.”

On Friday morning, the Vatican said that Francis’s condition was stable, but that his prognosis remained “guarded”, which means that he is still considered a danger.

The Pope managed to undergo physical therapy, both in the form of breathing exercises and because of his mobility. The Vatican consistently reported on his ability to get out of bed, sit in a chair, read a daily newspaper and perform many of his official duties from his hospital room.

Several times during this hospitalization-which was the longest of four during his papacy-Takakan commented on Pope sent phone calls to the Catholic community in war-torn gaza belt. He regularly spoke with the parish there since the war caused Hamasov on October 7, 2023, a terrorist attack on Israel.

For three weeks in a row, Pontif was absent from his Angelus appearances at St. Peter Square. His audio message followed the day after ASHU Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Lent season that led to Easter.

For two weeks, the Cardinals lead night recitations of the Rosary to pray for the sick pontiph. Vatican sources say CBS News that he was prematurely saying when Francis could be fired from the hospital.

A few weeks ago, the Vatican announced that Francis would not celebrate this year’s Easter Sunday Mass this year at St. Peter’s Basilica for his permanent recovery.