The Pope has filed away the latest crisis, that of the bronchospasm that had brought back anxiety about his state of health. Doctors report that he is stable and therefore the situation has not worsened since that episode on Friday. He continues oxygen therapy but without the mask and has no fever. A slight improvement, therefore, but the picture remains complex and the prognosis reserved. Other critical issues cannot be ruled out, such as the two major respiratory crises he has experienced in the space of these two weeks.

Today was also the day of the Angelus, for the third time not pronounced and released only with a written text. "From here the war appears even more absurd", writes the Pontiff. Then there is in his words all his fragility lived however as a "blessing" because "in these moments we learn even more to trust in the Lord". Today the Pope also met with his two main collaborators: the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and the Substitute Msgr. Edgar Pena Parra. On the contents of the meeting no official information has leaked. But it is conceivable that Francis wanted to speak with his main collaborators, who in ordinary life he meets every week, to decide how to manage the next appointments and decisions, considering that the hospitalization will still be long.

In the usual bulletin issued in the evening by the Vatican it is reported that "the Pope's clinical conditions have remained stable also today; the Pope did not require non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but only high-flow oxygen therapy ; he is afebrile. In consideration of the complexity of the clinical picture, the prognosis remains reserved". It is also specified that "this morning the Pope attended Mass, together with those who are taking care of him during these days of hospitalization, and then alternated rest with prayer". If after 48 hours from the last crisis he is stable, it can be deduced - Vatican sources explain - that the bronchospasm and the consequent inhalation of vomit had no consequences.

Today Francis returned to make his words heard through the Angelus that he prepared (not pronounced) and that he had spread. His thoughts always on the world crossed by conflicts: «I pray above all for peace. From here the war seems even more absurd. Let us pray for the tormented Ukraine, for Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, Kivu». Then that reference to his condition as a sick person among many sick people: «I feel in my heart the 'blessing' that is hidden within fragility, because precisely in these moments we learn even more to trust in the Lord; at the same time, I thank God because he gives me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people».

Francis these days is inundated with messages, prayers, children's drawings: "I feel all your affection and your closeness and, in this particular moment, I feel as if 'carried' and supported by all the People of God. Thank you all!", he writes in the text that accompanies the Sunday Marian prayer. And he concludes on an optimistic note also because, despite the ordeal and the ups and downs of his conditions, he has not lost - sources close to him report - his serenity and good humor. And so his greeting to everyone can only be a "see you later".

(Online Union)

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