A man holds his phone displaying an image of Pope Francis as he joins Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, in reciting the rosary for the pope in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Feb. 24, 2025. Cardinals living in Rome, leaders of the Roman Curia and the faithful joined the nighttime prayer. (CNS /Pablo Esparza)
Pope Francis remains in critical condition, but is "stable" as the 88-year-old pontiff continues his nearly two-week long hospitalization for double pneumonia.
According to a Vatican statement released at 7:20 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Feb. 25, the pope has not experienced any further acute respiratory episodes and his blood pressure and heart rate remains stable.
The Vatican said that his "prognosis remains reserved," as his medical picture continues to be complex.
Tuesday afternoon the pope also underwent a CT scan to monitor his bilateral pneumonia, which he was first diagnosed with on Feb. 18.
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On Monday, Feb. 25, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the sostituto (effectively the pope's chief of staff) visited Francis at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.
Their visit with the pope was not announced until earlier today when the Vatican said the pope had authorized new decrees for the creation of new saints during a meeting with his top two deputies on Feb. 24.
A statement also noted that the pope decided that he will convene a consistory — a Vatican administrative meeting — regarding the upcoming canonizations of new saints. This decision, along with his decision to receive visitors despite the doctor's orders of "complete rest," has largely been interpreted as a sign of the pontiff's resolve to return to the Vatican and continue his work.
Also on Tuesday, the Vatican released the pope's 2025 Lenten message, where he called on Christians to engage in an exercise to compare their daily life experiences to that of a migrant.
While the message was signed on Feb. 6 — before he was admitted to hospital on Feb. 14 — the document was appropriately titled: "'Let us journey together in hope."
At 9 p.m. this evening here in Rome, Vatican cardinals and curial officials will gather in St. Peter's Square for a second night in a row with faithful from all over the world to recite a rosary for the pope's recovery. Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for Evangelization, is set to preside over the prayer service.
The National Catholic Reporter's Rome Bureau is made possible in part by the generosity of Joan and Bob McGrath.
