(22 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rome – 22 February 2025
1. Statue of of John Paul II outside Gemelli Hospital
2. Various of candles with images of Pope Francis on them by statue
3. Various of hospital, people walking outside
4. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Stefano Mella, hospital patient:
"It’s a strange thing (being a patient in the same hospital as the pope). I do not come often, I come once every two, three months. However, it is a strange thing because he is the pope. Even if you can’t see him you know he is here and doing the same things as those who unfortunately attend the hospital."
5. Various of people praying in front of statue by hospital
6. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Massimo Grassi, relative of patient in hospital:
"I know he was very sick. Maybe I’d have intervened a little earlier if I was one of the doctors because in my opinion they knew he was getting worse. However, hopefully everything will be okay. I know he is getting better."
7. Woman praying in front of statue
8. Close of candles
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Frida Aviles Rosales, voxpop:
"We ask everyone to pray for our Pope Francis who is hospitalized at Policlinico Gemelli, to pray for the Holy Father. He is such a humble pope, a model for the whole humanity."
10. Windows of 10th-floor where Francis is being treated
11. Various exteriors of Gemelli hospital
STORYLINE:
Pope Francis slept well overnight, the Vatican said Saturday, as the 88-year-old pontiff continues to battle pneumonia and a complex respiratory infection that doctors say remains touch-and-go and will keep him hospitalized for at least another week.
Francis, who has chronic lung disease, was admitted to Gemelli hospital on February 14 after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.
Doctors first diagnosed the complex viral, bacterial and fungal respiratory tract infection and then the onset of pneumonia in both lungs.
They prescribed “absolute rest” and a combination of cortisone and antibiotics, along with supplemental oxygen when he needs it.
Some of those visiting the hospital on Saturday paused outside to look up at the windows on the tenth floor where the pope is being treated, whilst others stopped to say a prayer in front of a statue to Pope John Paul II outside.
"We ask everyone to pray for our Pope Francis," said Frida Aviles Rosales, after praying in front of the statue.
"He is such a humble pope, a model for the whole humanity," she added.
Doctors have warned that the main threat facing Francis would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.
As of Friday, there was no evidence of any sepsis, and Francis was responding to the various drugs he is taking, the pope’s medical team said in their first in-depth update on the pope’s condition.
Deacons, meanwhile, were gathering at the Vatican for their special Jubilee weekend.
Francis got sick at the start of the Vatican’s Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism.
This weekend, Francis was supposed to have celebrated deacons, a ministry in the church that precedes ordination to the priesthood.
In his place, the Holy Year organizer will celebrate Sunday’s Mass, the Vatican said.
And for the second weekend in a row, Francis was expected to skip his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he could have delivered from Gemelli if he were up to it.
Beyond that, doctors have said his recovery will take time and that regardless he will still have to live with his chronic respiratory problems back at the Vatican.
AP video shot by: Oleg Cetinic
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