Pope works on signature reform from hospital as Vatican cuts back on updates on medical progress

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis entered the fifth week of hospital treatment for double pneumonia Saturday very much looking ahead as he worked on a signature priority of his papacy and signs of his recovery remained on a positive trajectory.

Working from the Gemelli hospital, Francis has approved a three-year implementation and evaluation process for his reform project that aims to make the church a more welcoming and responsive place. The Vatican office for the synod, or gathering of bishops, released a timetable through 2028 to implement the reforms and said Francis had approved the calendar last week.

In a new medical update, the Vatican said that doctors were working to reduce the pope’s nighttime reliance on the non-invasive ventilation mask, which will allow his lungs to work more.

Doctors underlined that while the pope’s condition is stable, he still requires hospitalization for both physical and respiratory therapy, which are ‘’showing further gradual improvements,” the Vatican said Saturday in the first medical update in three days.

Besides treatment, the pontiff spent the day alternating between prayer, rest and some work.

The Vatican has announced that it would provide medical updates on the pope less frequently, in what it called a positive development. The next medical update will be made in the middle of next week, the Vatican said. It also has ceased issuing brief morning advisories that the pope had slept well and was starting his day.

Doctors this week said the 88-year-old pontiff was no longer in critical, life-threatening condition, but have continued to emphasize that his condition remained complex due to his age, lack of mobility and the loss of part of a lung as a young man.

Francis was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis that made it difficult for him to speak. Doctors soon added a diagnosis of double pneumonia and a polymicrobial (bacterial, viral and fungal) infection.

The first three weeks of his hospitalization were marked by a rollercoaster of setbacks, including respiratory crises, mild kidney failure and a severe coughing fit.

But medical updates this week have focused on his continued physical and respiratory therapy, as well as the rotation from high-flow oxygen through nostril tubes during the day and a non-invasive ventilation mask at night to help ensure his rest. An X-ray this week confirmed that the infection was clearing. Doctors have not indicated how much longer Francis will be hospitalized.

The pope this week participated in Lenten spiritual exercises from the hospital, which Vatican officials have said implied a lighter workload. He received a cake and hundreds of messages wishing him well on the 12th anniversary of his papacy Thursday.

The only public sign of life from the pope since his hospitalization was a recorded audio message thanking people for their prayers for his recovery in a weak and labored voice. It was played in St. Peter’s Square for the faithful gathered for a nightly recitation of the rosary prayer earlier this month.

For the last four Sundays, the traditional blessing that the pope delivers from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square has been released as a text.