The Vatican announced on the evening of February 18 that a CT scan of Pope Francis' chest "revealed the onset of bilateral pneumonia, requiring additional pharmacological therapy.”
But this morning, February 19, a brief statement to journalists assured that the pontiff had had "a quiet night." The 88-year-old head of the Church "woke up and had breakfast."
Pope Francis can get up to move to an armchair, a Vatican source said on February 19, 2025. He is not on a ventilator but a Vatican source says that it is not impossible that the Pope occasionally receives a supplementary source of oxygen in one form or another. “His heart is holding up very well,” adds the Vatican source.
The Holy See Press Office is not expected to issue any news before the end of the day, unless there is a change in the Pontiff's condition. A press conference at Gemelli Hospital cannot be ruled out, but it is not expected to take place today.
In 2023, the surgeon who had operated on the Pope for an intestinal hernia responded to journalists alongside Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.
Bruni, who came to see journalists present in the press room this morning, did not want to comment on the false information circulating about the Pope. (In the last few hours, some rumors in Italy have even announced his death.) He also declined to confirm the rumor that the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, would come to the Pope's bedside this afternoon. According to our information, the Pope is not receiving any visitors, as he is on “absolute rest.”
This is now the sixth day that the Pope is in the hospital, after he was admitted on the afternoon of February 14 following some 10 days of battling bronchitis from home.
Find out more from our report yesterday evening:
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