Pope Francis, who is being treated in hospital for double pneumonia, is not in danger of death, but has not been fully cured and his condition could yet change, one of his doctors said on Friday.
"Is he out of danger? No. But if the question is 'is he in danger of death', the answer is 'no'," Sergio Alfieri told a press conference.
Francis is being treated at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days. Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe.
His medical team said the pope was able to get out of bed and sit in an armchair to do some work, but predicted that he would remain in hospital "at least" through the coming next week.
Alfieri said that given the pope was 88, with prior health concerns, he was obviously a fragile patient.
He added that the pope did not have sepsis, a potentially life-threatening condition when a body responds to an infection by harming its own tissue and organs. However, he said there was always a risk that the infection could spread in his body.
As his hospital stay drags on, some of Francis’ cardinals have begun responding to the obvious question that is circulating: whether Francis might resign if he becomes irreversibly sick and unable to carry on. Francis has said he would consider it, after Pope Benedict XVI "opened the door" to popes retiring, but has shown no signs of stepping down and in fact has asserted recently that the job of pope is for life.
