Pope is stable, followed Mass on television as he recovers from respiratory infection, Vatican says

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Francis read the newspapers and had breakfast after a second night sleeping well at the hospital where he’s being treated for a respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said. (AP video by Trisha Thomas, Silvia Stellacci, Isaia Montelioni and Paolo Lucariello )

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A woman kneels at the foot of a statue of late Pope John Paul II outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection that made impossible for him to attend the traditional Sunday public blessing after the noon Angelus prayer. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II offers an advantage point to pidgeons in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection that made impossible for him to attend the traditional Sunday public blessing after the noon Angelus prayer. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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Journalists report from outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection that made impossible for him to attend the traditional Sunday public blessing after the noon Angelus prayer. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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A marble statue of late Pope John Paul II is engulfed by the shade cast by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection that made impossible for him to attend the traditional Sunday public blessing after the noon Angelus prayer. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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Votive candles bearing pictures of Jesus and Pope Francis with his motto in Italian: ‘Don’t let hope be stolen from you’, are left outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection that made impossible for him to attend the traditional Sunday public blessing after the noon Angelus prayer. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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The window of the Apostolic Palace at The Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, from where Pope Francis, who was hospitalised on Friday, blesses the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the Angelus every Sunday is closed. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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Faithful wait under the closed window of the Apostolic Palace at The Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, from where Pope Francis, who was hospitalised on Friday, blesses the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the Angelus every Sunday. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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People leave Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, after attending a mass for the Jubilee of Artists and the World of Culture that was supposed to be presided over by Pope Francis before he was hospitalized on Friday, and which was instead presided over by Card. José Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education in St. Peter’s Basilica, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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Families wait under the closed window of the Apostolic Palace at The Vatican, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, from where Pope Francis, who was hospitalised on Friday, blesses the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square after the Angelus every Sunday. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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Journalists report from outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, where Pope Francis was hospitalised Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened and is receiving drug therapy for a respiratory tract infection that made impossible for him to attend the traditional Sunday noon blessing of faithful. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

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By NICOLE WINFIELD

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis had breakfast, read the newspapers and followed Mass on television Sunday after a second night sleeping well at the hospital where the 88-year-old pontiff is being treated for a respiratory tract infection, the Vatican said.

Francis’ condition was stable, as he continues his unspecified drug therapy, alternating in the afternoon between reading and resting, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

The Argentine pope, a known workaholic who keeps up a grueling pace despite his many ailments, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened. It was his fourth hospitalization since his 2013 election and raised questions about his increasingly precarious health.

Doctors confirmed that the pope had a respiratory tract infection and prescribed “absolute rest” alongside unspecified drug therapies. Francis skipped his traditional Sunday noon blessing, declining to even come to his hospital window to wave to a small crowd below that had gathered in hopes of cheering him on.

The @Pontifex social media account, which isn’t written by the pope himself, thanked people for their prayers on Sunday.

Not PARSE.LY: Vatican City

Candles with the pictures of Pope Francis are the laid under the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Vatican authorities say the pope now has pneumonia in both lungs. How worrying is that?

Italy PM Meloni visits pope in hospital, says he’s in good spirits as tests show slight improvement

Pope had breakfast and slept peacefully, Vatican says after he was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs

“Thank you for the affection, prayer and closeness with which you are accompanying me in these days,” the post read.

Francis had part of one lung removed after a lung infection when he was a young man and is prone to respiratory infections. In 2023, he spent three days at Gemelli to be treated for what he later revealed was an acute case of pneumonia.

Despite his Feb. 6 bronchitis diagnosis, Francis had kept up a frenetic pace of late, packing his days with private and public audiences, while taking on the added obligations of steering the Catholic Church through its Holy Year.

The Vatican has canceled his events through Monday at least. On Sunday, a Holy Year Mass he was supposed to preside over for visiting artists was instead celebrated by the Vatican culture minister.

The Vatican hasn’t specified what type of respiratory tract infection the pope has. Sometimes bronchitis can lead to pneumonia, a deeper and far more serious infection of the lungs’ air sacs. Treatment varies by severity but can include providing oxygen through a nasal tube or mask, intravenous fluids — and treatment of the underlying cause of the infection.

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