(18 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rome – 18 February 2025
1. Various of Gemelli hospital exteriors
2. Various of journalists working outside Gemelli hospital
3. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Father Filippo Di Giacomo, canon lawyer and columnist:
"What we know for certain is that the pope had a serious lack of oxygen for at least ten days. Now, in people of his age, this problem causes either a cardiac problem or a neurological problem. The neurological problem seems to have been avoided because we know that the pope can talk and even use the telephone, but the cardiac problem, even if he recovers, will always be there. After Benedict XVI, the church is also prepared for a resignation. What it is not prepared for, from a legal point of view, is knowing whether or not a pope in these conditions has the right to have a group of people around him to help him with the most important tasks of the church, who must necessarily be bishops and cardinals.”
4. TV reporter working outside Gemelli hospital
5. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Father Filippo Di Giacomo, canon lawyer and columnist:
"Every day, the church celebrates and those who celebrate are not necessarily always a single person. (The pope) has delegated Monsignor Fisichella for next Sunday, he can delegate other high-profile people for the liturgical tasks of the Holy Year, as we saw with Cardinal Tolentino de Mendoza. That circle will continue to be there inexorably and so the pope can safely think about his health."
6. Wide of statue of Pope John Paul II in front of hospital
7. Various of religious candles at the foot of the statue
8. Close of a candle showing a picture of Pope Francis
9. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Samanta Rossi, patient at Gemelli hospital in Rome:
"I wish him (the pope) a full and complete recovery, without any relapses, because these are illnesses that one would like to eradicate once and for all. Then (I wish him) to continue with his work, he’s doing a good job."
10. Wide of hospital
11. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Maurizio Di Folco, patient at Gemelli Hospital in Rome:
"I’m certainly very, very worried. I wish him (Francis) a speedy recovery and we’re praying for him deeply. A very good pope, a great pope. We hope he’ll be with us for a long time to come. Best wishes."
12. Mid of statue of Pope John Paul II
13. Close of a card reading "Get well. From USA"
14. Close of statue of Pope John Paul II
STORYLINE:
The Vatican on Tuesday canceled papal audiences through the weekend and delegated others to cover for Pope Francis as the 88-year-old remained hospitalized with a multi-pronged respiratory infection.
The cancellations put a damper on upcoming events of the Vatican’s big Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism that is aimed at encouraging pilgrims to come to Rome to participate in special Jubilee activities.
Expected to draw some 30 million people to Rome, the Holy Year is packed with special papal audiences and Masses throughout 2025, some of which have now been put into question given Francis’ illness.
Father Filippo Di Giacomo, canon lawyer and columnist, said if Francis’ condition worsens, the Vatican is prepared for a possibility of a resignation.
However, the Vatican is unprepared for the legal issues that may arise from "whether or not a Pope in these conditions has the right to have a group of people around him to help him with the most important tasks of the church."
Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital in a “fair” condition on Friday after a weeklong bout of bronchitis worsened.
AP video by Luigi Navarra and Silvia Stellacci
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