Pope Francis works from hospital, inks paperwork for new possible saints: Vatican

Pope Francis was well enough Tuesday to meet with his No.2 to approve new decrees for possible saints, even while still hospitalized in critical but stable condition for double pneumonia and kidney failure.

The Vatican said the 88-year-old pontiff met with righthand man Cardinal Pietro Parolin and another close aide, Archbishop Edgard Pena Parra, at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital to approve candidates for beatification and approve decrees for a pair of potential saints.It is not clear why the matters appeared to be of a pressing concern to the pontiff.The decrees involved Father Emil Joseph Kapaun, a US Amy chaplain from Kansas who served in World War II and the Korean War, and Italian Salvo D’Acquisto, who was in WWII, Vatican News said.The person who normally submits such decrees to the pope is the cardinal titular of the Dicastery of Saints, currently Marcello Semeraro, Libero Quotidiano noted.Parolin is the secretary of state of the Vatican, and Parra is the equivalent to the holy father’s chief of staff.

Their visit was the only one that Francis has taken since Feb.16, when Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni paid her respects.The pope’s health has apparently rallied in the past two days after he appeared to be on the precipice — contracting a bilateral infection in his lungs, experiencing mild kidney failure and requiring blood transfusions and supplemental oxygen.“In the morning, after receiving the Eucharist, he resumed work activities,” the Holy See’s evening update said Tuesday.

“No episodes of asthma-like respiratory distress occurred [Monday], and some laboratory tests have shown improvement.“The monitoring of his mild kidney insufficiency has not raised any concerns.Oxygen therapy continues, although with slightly reduced flow and oxygen levels,” the statement said.Doctors have said the biggest threat to the health of his Holiness is the spreading of his lung infection to other vital organs, which could result in sepsis.On Monday night, Po...