Update 19-Feb-2025 1:41 pm CST: NCR reports that Francis shows "slight improvement" today:
"The Holy Father's clinical conditions appear to be stable," said a Vatican statement released at just after 7p.m. local time on Wednesday evening, Feb 19. "Blood tests, evaluated by the medical staff, show a slight improvement, particularly in inflammatory markers."
The NCR article also notes that Georgia Meloni, the Prime Minister of Italy, visited Francis for about 20 minutes. And JD Vance asked on social media for prayers for Francis.
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I am sure many of us have seen the news that Pope Francis has been hospitalized for the last few days with severe bronchitis. In my personal opinion, the Holy See has not been especially forthcoming on his condition.
Now Politico is reporting that Francis's condition is grave. Headline: "Pope Francis, sensing he is close to death, moves to protect his legacy".
According to two people familiar with the matter, Francis has been suffering from intense pain and has privately expressed certainty he won’t make it this time. On Sunday, doctors at Gemelli distressed the pope by barring him from delivering his regular morning Angelus sermon, which he has rarely missed, even when hospitalized, said one of the people and a third person. He is now acting entirely on “doctors’ orders,” said one of them.
The pope initially resisted going to hospital but was told in no uncertain terms that he was at risk of dying if he stayed in his room in the Vatican, the second person added.
We can assume Francis is receiving excellent care in the hospital. He has made it through serious health problems before and may do so again. Still, he is 88 years old. He had part of one lung removed many years ago, which presumably would increase the level of concern for a bronchitis patient.
Politico suggests that the recent flurry of activity on Francis's part (including his letter to the US bishops on American immigration policy and rhetoric) may be an attempt to get things done while he is able.
Let us pray for him, and for the church. He has been the right man for this moment of the church, and I pray that this moment continue for some time yet.
Our diocesan paper is reporting that the diagnosis of Francis's condition is bilateral pneumonia. That probably would be even worse for him than bronchitis, as pneumonia directly affects lung function. Apparently bilateral pneumonia is what I've heard called all my life "double pneumonia".
ReplyDeletehttps://www.webmd.com/covid/bilateral-interstitial-pneumonia
The Politico article said, "The battle to succeed Pope Francis is likely to be highly politicized, particularly given the pontiff’s recent clash with Catholic U.S. Vice President JD Vance."
DeleteI think they are attaching too much importance to JD Vance. He has pretty much been getting himself in trouble with his mouth ever since inauguration. Good thing Elon Musk isn't Catholic, or any religion, that I can see.
Elon is an effective altruist anarcho-capitalist pronatalist. I see Trump just announced an EO making IVF cheaper and more available, likely as a favor to Musk. Many of these folks prefer IVF to natural conception so they can have embryos genetically tested for defects, physical traits, gender, and IQ. Vance is also a big pronatalist. Will be interesting to see how "we are the party of IVF" plays with conservative Christians and Catholics.
DeleteElon is for sure an anarcho- capitalist. And a pronatalist for his kind of peeps. Presumably his focus on IVF is to make sure he doesn't have any kids with qualities that he thinks are not optimum. Though apparently kid #13 was a love child. Or a horniness child. Anyway he's got some baby momma awkwardness now. Too bad. And a trans child he blames on wokeness. Whatever. I'm not seeing altruism in his traits, unless it benefits him.
DeleteMaybe all these pronatalists ought to think about what makes it easier, or possible, for people to form families and raise children. Educational opportunities and a living wage would be a lot more help than IVF .
I don't know much about Musk's kids except that 4-year-old he drags around the White House whose Canadian mother is having a fit about it.
Delete"Effective altruism" is not "altruism" as a normal person thinks of it. You achieve the greatest good for the greatest number by getting rid of dead weight. Too many hungry/sick/disabled/crazy people taking benefits? Cut off benefits. This forces them to work or die. If they're worth saving, their families can step in. Christians like the family part of it because they say this strengthens families. As someone who has dealt with drunks and crazy family, I'd say it stresses families, particularly women.
But sorry. This thread is about the pope.
Re: the Politico article's content about JD Vance - that is sort of Politico's Washington-centric hot take. Plus, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Trump's sense of his own importance, which is inflated beyond Macy-s-Thanksgiving-Day-Parade-balloon dimensions these days, would lead him to assume that he, the Great Man, can influence the choice of the next pope. Maybe he can send Elon Musk into the next conclave.
DeleteMy guess is that the next pope will be a colorless character who is going to stay out of politics given the rightwing trends emerging in Germany, Hungary, France, and other Catholic nations. Plus most Catholics voted for Trump whatever the Vatican says about some Trump policies. He likely thinks the Vatican is irrelevant.
DeleteMy bad toxic fantasy that may be a sin: Trump may think he can influence who is the next pope, but I would like to see him stand in a blizzard for three days like Emperor Henry IV at Canossa to show how much influence he has.
DeleteI think the Holy Spirit will have something to say about who is the next pope. We may all be surprised.
Will it matter to American Catholics who the pope is or what he says, however much the Holy Spirit has to do with selecting him? As we devolve into nationalism and isolationism, being connected to global Christendom seems to matter less to Americans.
DeleteHe has done a good job trying to turn people away from hatred of others and toward humility. It would be nice if those themes continued.
ReplyDeleteHe is in my prayers. I read that he said he feels the support of people praying for him.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me of the situation that we experienced with my dad and my mother in law. Both suffered from heart and lung issues. Both made it through a couple of crises in which they were hospitalized. But they didn't make it through the third time. They passed away peacefully. In fact three people sitting in the room with Dad didn't realize he had passed until they looked over and saw that he wasn't breathing.
If I were in the same situation as the pope, or our family members, at death's door, I think I would just want to pass through the door. As St. Paul said, "...for we walk by faith, and not by sight. Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord."
I’ve been praying for him since I first learned that he was in the hospital again. I hate to even imagine what’s going on behind the scenes in the war between VII Catholics and throwback to the 50s Catholics if there is a Conclave soon. I don’t know if the anti- Francis sentiment is mostly in the US or if it has infected the Cardinals in other countries. He has been a great Christian leader. It’s tragic that he was ignored and even rejected by the American bishops and the majority of white American Catholics. They apparently didn’t like the ideas of the gospels he taught.
ReplyDeleteI have read that about 80% of the cardinal electors were appointed by Francis. The cardinals over 80 yrs old can't vote in a conclave. I think MAGA Catholicism is pretty much an American phenomenon, though there are people like Vigano and Muller on the European side.
DeleteFrancis's pontificate has pretty much run its course. If he continues, he will just be marking time.
ReplyDeleteAs the first pope who was not at Vatican II, he did a good job of establishing Vatican II as the new norm. The best evidence of that is that he dismantled Benedict’s Extraordinary Form without much challenge. Hopefully the next pope will view himself as implementing Vatican II rather than reinterpreting it.
He fought a long and hard battle against the curia. They view themselves more as servants of the bishops now, but a new pope and new curia officials could change all that.
Whether or not his great experiment with synodality will bear fruit remains to be seen? Will we become more of a listening church at all levels? Will we find a way to achieve real consensus like Vatican II did? So far there is not much evidence. Again, as at Vatican II celibacy was taken off the table when it became too hot. Vatican II worked because the bishops spent a lot of time outside the council listening to experts. Can synods do the same thing? It remains to be seen.
He internationalized the cardinals in new and inventive ways by not sticking to the traditional major cities. What effect that will have on the conclave remains to be seen.
With Trump in the White House, it will be interesting to see what happens in the run up to the conclave. The cardinals have a great traditional that goes against outside interference. There were rumors years ago that the conservatives were preparing resumes of bad data against those whom they do not want.
Without a steady hand from Rome, the American bishops will likely revert to their infighting. Only this time it is likely to be open warfare.
I hope a major legacy will be that he identified clericalism as a great problem. Maybe the opposition of the American bishops and laity against him will make criticism of the next pope and bishops more acceptable.
Time to pray for the next Pope.
This makes me sad. When I looked at this pope, I saw a person, not an institutional figurehead. If this actually is his time, I will personally miss him, probably more than any other Pope in my lifetime except maybe Pope John XXIII.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of conclaves, which the Politico article too-quickly transitioned to, I don't know whether any of you have had the chance to see the film "Conclave". Apparently it won a best-film award recently at the BAFTA awards. We didn't see it at a theater but it is on one of the streaming services and we watched it a few weekends ago. It's pretty good, and reportedly pretty accurate; but without wishing to publish any spoilers, it has one plot twist too many at the end, and that twist, as they used to say, "jumped the shark". Still well worth seeing.
ReplyDeleteI should add, I believe it was a "premium" offering on the streaming service, i.e. we had to pay (above and beyond the monthly service fee) to watch it.
DeleteI saw it in the theater. Great lineup of actors. I enjoy compressed atmosphere movies. It reminded me of “Margin Call” which also had Tucci in the cast.
DeleteI think Tucci is terrific. I enjoyed Margin Call, too, and I thought Tucci did the best job in that strong ensemble.
DeleteI agree. But Spacey had a strong performance also, as did they all. It’s a shame he ruined his career with his sexual harrassment. Would it have been different if he’d been out?
DeleteI agree re: Spacey's strong performance. Personally, I don't buy his excuse that his being gay somehow accounted for his harassing behavior.
DeleteThe Italian prime minister visited him. She said he was joking as always. Probably about whether Italy was ready for his funeral and the conclave. And whether that would add or detract from the number of pilgrims coming to Rome. On the serious side, I guess they have to be tweaking their contingency plans - foreign heads of state and all that.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated, Nebraska is a red state (except for the notorious "blue dot") but it seems plenty of Nebraskans are mad about DOGE and Musk. Staffers were no longer answering the phone at either Senators Fisher or Ricketts' offices. Don Bacon's mailbox is full. My congressman, Mike Flood, said his voters were "stressed". I had emailed both senators and Flood. Didn't expect an answer, but got a totally unsatisfactory one from Ricketts (no surprise there). He said that all Musk was doing is reining in the unacceptable deficit incurred by Biden. Billionaires always stick together.
ReplyDeleteThe GOP reps can't come to the phone because they are busy groveling in hopes Trump-Musk will reinstate the local projects that Congress voted to fund in the first place. This gives Trump-Musk a chance to reward the best grovelers in exchange for fealty and other favors. Democrats will get nothing, and blue states like California will be punished by bearing the brunt of the cuts. That will encourage voters to get rid of ineffective grovelers and send more Republican toadies to DC in 2026.
DeleteHot shots fired 400 nuclear regulatory agency personnel. The guys who manage the nuclear inventory. Then couldn’t find them to rehire them once the idiots found out what they did. If the fired stuck together, they could get rehired at twice the salary. I’m expecting that many of the fired will be picked up by government contractors. Maybe Musk will gobble them up and reap the profits. I imagine the cams and wheels are turning.
ReplyDelete"I’m expecting that many of the fired will be picked up by government contractors. "
DeleteThat is my prediction, too. The workers may get paid a bit more, but it will cost the government (and the taxpayers) a lot more. Making the employees go away doesn't make the work go away.
A heads up if you have virtual Dr visits. Medicare will no longer cover virtual or telephone visits as of April 1 except for a few exceptions. Apparently the coverage came because of Covid but is not being extended.
ReplyDeleteThis will depend on whether you have straight Medicare or various supplemental or replacement/advantage plans.
DeleteI do look for a collapse in low-cost plans to be more widespread in the next 4 years as nothing is done to corral health care costs for the elderly. Our advantage plan has increased costs for meds and labs this year, and the entire plan is being eliminated in 2026 as our long-time hospital system merges with University of Michigan Health Care. We've been told that a replacement plan is not in the works.
The regional cancer center is down to about half the docs it used to have. U-M wants specialty care centered in Ann Arbor, so they're beefing up clinics there. Both our GPS have retired early, and we're being robbed off on nurses for all screening.
This is not Trump-Musk's fault per se, but they will do nothing about it. It's not in the nation's financial interest to keep the poorest elderly alive. If you have good retirement benefits, you'll be fine. If not, you'll have to choose between food and meds, and you'll croak earlier, thus eliminating the burdens on everyone else.
fobbed off
DeleteWe have original Medicare and AARP Healthcare supplement. I don’t think current retirees can get either of our plans anymore. They have covered every cent of George’s $ million++ medical bills. TY God. But no vision, dental or hearing aid coverage. We pay a lot in monthly premiums now for both of us but at least George is covered under these plans until he dies. So am I but most years (except for the breast cancer) my medical bills are minimal.But I’m covered if something worse comes down the road.
DeleteAs long as your supplemental policy us making the insurance company $$, you're safe.
DeletePope Francis has apparently taken a turn for the worse and is in critical condition.
ReplyDelete