Pope had good nights rest after overcoming possible risks from respiratory crisis

Pope Francis had a good night’s rest early Monday after apparently overcoming a setback in his recovery from pneumonia: He is stable, off mechanical ventilation and shows no sign of new infection following a respiratory crisis late last week.“The pope rested well all night,” the Vatican said in its update from Gemelli hospital, where Francis has been hospitalized since Feb.14.Doctors reported the 88-year-old pope spent all day Sunday without using the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask that pumps oxygen into his lungs that he had to use following Friday’s coughing episode.

Francis did continue to receive high flow supplemental oxygen through a nasal tube.Friday’s respiratory crisis sparked fears of a new lung infection because Francis inhaled some vomit.Doctors aspirated it and said they needed 24 to 48 hours to determine if any new infection took hold.On Sunday evening, they said Francis remained stable, with no fever or signs of an infection, indicating he had overcome the crisis.

His prognosis remained guarded, however, meaning he wasn’t out of danger.Francis on Sunday also received a visit from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and his chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra.The content of their talks wasn’t known, but even when at the Vatican, Francis meets at least weekly with them.He again skipped his weekly noon blessing to avoid even a brief public appearance from the hospital.

Instead, the Vatican distributed a message written by the pope from the 10th floor in which he thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, and prayed again for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.“From here, war appears even more absurd,” Francis said in the message, which he drafted in recent days.Francis said he was living his hospitalization as an experience of profound solidarity with people who are sick and suffering everywhere.“I feel in my heart the ‘blessing’ that is hidden within frailty, be...