“The Pope’s condition is good and stationary, he has no fever and his respiratory situation is clearly improving.” The director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, responding to questions from journalists, gave an update on the Pope’s health, affected – as the Pontiff himself affirmed, connecting yesterday morning from Casa Santa Marta for the Angelus – by an “inflammation of the lungs”.

Bruni confirmed that the CT scan Pope Francis underwent early Saturday afternoon at the Gemelli Isola Tiberina hospital in Rome “excluded pneumonia, but showed a lung inflammation that caused some breathing difficulties”. “For greater effectiveness of the therapy, a cannula needle was placed for the intravenous infusion of antibiotic therapy,” the spokesman reported. Finally, he explained that “to facilitate the Pope’s recovery, some important engagements planned for these days have been postponed so that he can devote the desired time and energy. Others, of an institutional nature or easier to sustain given the current health conditions, have been maintained”.

Yesterday morning, as mentioned above, the Pope prayed the Angelus via video link from the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, to avoid catching a cold from the window of the Apostolic Palace. In fact, the late autumn temperature in Rome has dropped sharply over the past weekend. Pope Francis himself, at the beginning of the Sunday meeting, explained to the more than 12,000 faithful present in St. Peter’s Square and to those connected from home: “Today I cannot lean out of the window because I have this problem of inflammation of the lungs, and the reflection will be read by Monsignor Braida who knows them well because he is the one who makes them and always does them so well. Thank you very much for your presence”. The catechesis was then read by Monsignor Paolo Braida, Head of the Office of the Secretariat of State.

Here is the catechesis of the Angelus.