The medical teams at the Gemelli clinic have prescribed “absolute rest” for Pope Francis, who is therefore not leading the midday Angelus prayer on February 16, 2025, the Holy See Press Office announced in a statement released the early evening of February 15.
Shortly after noon on February 16, Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, told several journalists that Pope Francis “had a quiet night; he slept well."
While the Pontiff's respiratory tract infection, diagnosed upon his admission to the hospital on February 14, has been confirmed by new tests, the examinations have also revealed “an improvement in certain measures,” according to the health bulletin.
For the first time since a previous hospitalization at Gemelli in June 2023, Pope Francis will not recite the Angelus. At the time, he had to give up leading the prayer following his surgery for an intestinal hernia.
Although he will not read from his bedroom window as he has done in the past, the Pope has asked that the text of his meditation for the Angelus be published on Sunday. (Find it here.)
“Rest, prayer, and reading”
The press release states that Pope Francis did not have any further episodes of fever during the day. The medical team also announced that they had “slightly modified” the treatment administered to the pontiff “based on microbiological results.”
The Holy See announced that the Pope received Communion in the morning, then alternated between “rest, prayer, and reading” during the day.
The Pope expressed his gratitude to all those who sent him messages of closeness and affection and asked that prayers continue for him.
Find updates on the Pope's health here.
Prayer for the Pope
We pray for Francis, our Pope.
May he and all the ill feel their companionship with the suffering Christ.
Grant him rest and health.
Amen.
After keeping five morning appointments on February 14, the Pope was admitted to the hospital later in the day. For more than a week, he'd been battling bronchitis, and initial exams in the hospital showed a respiratory tract infection. The Pope also had a slight fever.
In March 2023, Pope Francis was hospitalized with infectious bronchitis.
The Holy Father's respiratory strength is particularly delicate since in 1957, when he was in his early 20s, he had a severe respiratory infection that led to the removal of part of one lung. He would later say that a nurse saved his lifeon that occasion.
In addition to his vulnerability to respiratory infections, the Pope has suffered two falls in recent weeks.
