"Pope is not in danger of death" but not "fully out of danger"

Dr Carbone and Dr Alfieri. Image Vatican Media

Source: Vatican Media

Pope Francis is not "in danger of death", but he's also not fully "out of danger", members of his medical team have said.

At a press conference in Rome's Gemelli hospital on Friday, Dr Sergio Alfieri, head of the team taking care of the Pope, and Dr Luigi Carbone, Vice-Director of the Vatican's healthcare service, spoke for some 40 minutes to a roomful of journalists.

They said that they believed the Pope would be hospitalised for "at least" the entirety of the next week.

Dr Alfieri emphasised that the Pope is not attached to a ventilator, although he is still struggling with his breathing and consequently keeping his physical movements limited.

Nevertheless, the physician said, the Pope is sitting upright in a chair, working, and joking as usual. Alfieri said that when one of the doctors greeted the Pope by saying "Hello, Holy Father", he replied with "Hello, Holy Son".

Asked by a journalist what their greatest fear is, the doctors noted that there is a risk that germs in the Pope's respiratory tract might enter his bloodstream, causing sepsis.

Dr Alfieri did say, however, that he was confident that Pope Francis would leave the hospital at some point and return to Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican - with the proviso that when he does so, his chronic respiratory issues will remain.