Pope shows slight improvement, resumes some work: Vatican

Pope Francis is showing a “slight improvement” in his condition and has resumed some of his work activities, according to the Vatican’s Monday evening bulletin.

The pope remains in critical condition, as he undergoes treatment for pneumonia in both lungs.

The evening bulletin said, however, that some of the pope’s lab tests have improved, and there have been no episodes of asthmatic respiratory crisis so far on Monday. The pope continues to receive oxygen therapy but at a slightly reduced flow and oxygen percentage.

The early signs of mild kidney failure observed Sunday show “no cause for concerns,” according to the bulletin, which also stated that, because of the “complexity of the clinical picture,” doctors “are cautiously not yet releasing the prognosis.”

Meanwhile, the evening bulletin said the pope has resumed some of his work activities in the afternoon, after receiving the Eucharist in the afternoon. In the evening, he called the priest of the Gaza parish “to express his paternal closeness.”

The bulletin also said Francis “thanked all the people of God who have gathered to pray for his health in recent days.”

Francis has been in the hospital for 10 full days, his longest stay to date, according to The Associated Press. The pope previously spent 10 days at a hospital in Rome in 2021 after having part of his colon removed.