(ROME) — Pope Francis on Thursday made his first public comments since being hospitalized on Feb. 14, thanking the public for their prayers.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I accompany you from here. May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you,” the pope said in a recorded statement made in Spanish. The statement was played at the start of the rosary in St. Peter’s Square.
The pope, 88, “remained stable compared to previous days” and did not have “episodes of respiratory insufficiency” on Thursday, his 21st day in the hospital, the Vatican in its evening update.
The pope “continued with respiratory and motor physiotherapy with benefit,” the Vatican press office, the Holy See, said Thursday in its evening update. “Hemodynamic parameters and blood tests remained stable. He did not present fever.”
“The doctors are still maintaining the prognosis as reserved,” the Vatican said.
The Vatican said that, “in view of the stability of the clinical picture,” it won’t provide another medical update on the pope until Saturday.
Francis on Thursday “dedicated himself to some work activities in the morning and afternoon, alternating rest and prayer,” the Vatican said, and he received the Eucharist before lunch.
The pope “remained stationary” on Wednesday, “without showing any episodes of respiratory failure,” and rested peacefully overnight into Thursday, the Vatican said.
The pontiff had needed medical intervention amid two episodes of “acute respiratory failure” on Monday, Vatican sources told ABC News.
Pope Francis spent his 20th day in hospital on Wednesday in an armchair, participated in the “ritual blessing of the Holy Ashes that were imposed on him by the celebrant” and received the Eucharist, the Vatican said.
“During the morning he also called Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family in Gaza. In the afternoon he alternated rest with work,” the Vatican said.
Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.
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