Global media outlets, including CNN, CBS and NBC, are getting ready to descend upon Rome and Vatican City following reports that Pope Francis is in critical condition.
Logistical aspects such as renting terrace space to get the best camera angles of St. Peters’ Square in the event of a papal funeral — which draws a huge gathering of world leaders, prelates and ordinary Catholics — have long been taken care of, according to several sources. Now plane tickets are being booked for top anchors to make the trek. The pope’s funeral, according to strict protocol, is followed two to three weeks later by the secretive conclave in which cardinals from around the world gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next Catholic Church leader.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who is suffering from pneumonia in both lungs and early stages of a kidney insufficiency, has now been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital for 11 days, Francis’ longest hospitalization as pope.
On Monday, the Vatican press office issued a statement saying: “The night went well; the Pope slept and is resting.” But the Holy See Press Office also said Francis’ condition remains critical, though he has not experienced any respiratory crises since Saturday morning.
Francis’ critical condition has prompted swirling speculation about what might happen if he becomes incapacitated, and whether he might resign if he becomes unable to lead, following in Pope Benedict XVI’s footsteps.
Francis revealed in a 2022 interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC that in March 2013 he gave his resignation letter to the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, about six months after being elected to the papacy. “All of this seems to me to be unfounded speculation,” Vatican secretary of state Pietro Parolin said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Saturday. “Right now, our focus is on the Holy Father’s health, his recovery, and his return to the Vatican — these are the only things that matter.”
On Sunday, the cast of the film “Conclave” — which took the top honor of best film ensemble at the SAG Awards — took a moment to send well wishes to Pope Francis during the ceremony. “First of all, we would like to wish Pope Francis a quick recovery,” star Isabella Rossellini said before the cast teed up a montage of the film.
However, also on Sunday, archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan acknowledged that the Catholic faithful were united “at the bedside of a dying father.”
“Our Holy Father Pope Francis is in very, very fragile health and probably close to death,” Dolan said in his homily from the pulpit of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, according to several news reports.He later told reporters he hoped and prayed that Francis would “bounce back.”
The papal health crisis is taking place just as the Vatican is beginning to celebrate its Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century Jubilee celebration that is expected to draw some 30 million Catholic pilgrims to Rome.
