Alert – Pope Francis health latest: Live updates as Pontiff’s condition worsens amid ‘two respiratory failures’

Here is some footage filmed from outside Rome’s Gemelli Hospital where people are continuing to pray and light candles for Pope Francis.

See our video below:

The Vatican has confirmed Pope Francis has stabilised enough after two respiratory crises to be taken off non-invasive mechanical ventilation.

The 88-year-old has resumed receiving just high flows of supplemental oxygen via a nasal tube to help him breathe.

Francis woke up and was resuming respiratory physiotherapy after sleeping through the night, a Vatican spokesperson said.

He no longer needed to wear the mechanical ventilation mask that covers his nose and mouth to pump oxygen into his lungs after using it on Monday while doctors extracted ‘copious’ amounts of mucus from his lungs.

They performed two bronchoscopies, in which a camera-tipped tube was sent into his airways with a sucker at the tip to suction out fluid.

Francis, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, remained alert, oriented and co-operated with medical personnel, the Vatican said.

The prognosis remained guarded, meaning he was not out of danger.

Syrian refugees Hasan Zaheda and Nour Essa were helped by Pope Francis

A family from Syria who are rebuilding their lives in Rome after fleeing Damascus have told how they are praying day and night for Pope Francis to recover after he helped bring them to Italy.

Hasan Zaheda, an architect, and his wife Nour Essa, a biologist, made the decision to leave their homeland in 2015 after Ms Essa was drafted into the military.

After selling their house to finance their escape, the couple paid a smuggler to take them to Turkey before they arrived on the Greek island of Lesbos after three unsuccessful attempts to cross by boat.

In 2016, their lives changed after Pope Francis met them in Lesbos and brought them to Italy with two other Muslim families. Hasan and Nour now reside on the outskirts of Rome.

‘He’s a gift from paradise,’ Mr Zaheda told the Associated Press. ‘Pope Francis, a gift from our God, that God sent us to save us.’

‘We look for his health bulletin every day,’ said Nour Essa, Riad’s mother, recalling their meeting with the pontiff in Lesbos.

What shocked me the most is that the father of the church was a modest man, who didn’t have prejudices, open toward other ethnicities and religion.

Pope Francis was diagnosed with bronchitis after first complaining of a cold in early February.

On February 9, the 88-year-old had trouble breathing as he delivered an outdoor Mass service with an aide eventually finishing off for him.

Five days later he returned to Gemelli hospital for treatment and further tests and has remained there ever since.

Here’s a look back at his admission and the key moments:

• February 14: Francis returns to Gemelli for treatment of bronchitis and further diagnostic tests after feeling unwell for about 10 days which saw him struggle to read during services. Has remained on the 10th floor ever since.
• February 17: Doctors determine Francis is suffering from a polymicrobial respiratory tract infection, meaning a mix of viruses, bacteria and possibly other organisms had colonised his respiratory tract. His illness is described as ‘complex’.
• February 18: The Vatican announce Francis has developed pneumonia in both lungs following the results of a CT scan. New tests also showed Francis’ respiratory infection also involves asthmatic bronchitis, which requires the use of cortisone antibiotic treatment.
• February 22: The Pope’s condition is described as ‘critical’ as it emerges he has received blood transfusions following a ‘prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis’. The blood transfusions were deemed necessary due to a low platelet count, associated with anaemia, the Vatican said.
• February 24: The Vatican says there has been a ‘slight improvement’ in his health although he remains in a critical condition. He is diagnosed with ‘mild’ kidney failure but the Vatican says it is not concerned by his ‘renal insufficency’
• February 28: It emerges Pope Francis suffered an ‘isolated’ breathing crisis in hospital following a ‘sudden worsening of his respiratory condition’. He received gas through a face mask to help him breathe.
• March 3: Pope Francis has today been put back on ventilation after suffering two new episodes of respiratory crises, the Vatican said.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia (pictured), who heads the academy which helps articulate the Catholic Church’s position on end-of-life care, said Francis is like any other Catholic and would follow church teaching if it came to that.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said:

Today the pope is giving us an extraordinary teaching on fragility. Today the pope, not through words but with his body, is reminding all of us, we elderly people to begin with, that we are all fragile and therefore we need to take care of each other.

Catholic teaching holds that life must be defended from conception until natural death.

It insists that chronically ill patients, including those in vegetative states, must receive ‘ordinary’ care such as hydration and nutrition, but ‘extraordinary’ or disproportionate care can be suspended if it is no longer beneficial or is only prolonging a precarious and painful life.

Here are the first photographs we can show you from the Vatican this morning as people continue to pray for Francis to recover.

These photographs were captured next to the statue of Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

A doctor who specialises in life-threatening lung conditions has warned the Pope appears to be taking ‘steps back’ in his recovery from pneumonia.

Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said the episodes were more concerning than the last one on Friday, in which Francis had a coughing fit, inhaled some vomit that needed to be extracted and then was put on the noninvasive mechanical ventilation for a day and then didn’t need it anymore.

The use of bronchoscopies reflects a worrying level of mucus and phlegm in the lungs, Dr Coleman, who is not involved in Francis’ care, said.

The fact that they had to go in there and remove it manually is concerning, because it means that he is not clearing the secretions on his own. He’s taking little steps forward and then steps back.

Francis, who is not physically active, uses a wheelchair and is overweight, had been undergoing respiratory physiotherapy to try to improve his lung function.

But the accumulation of the secretions in his lungs was a sign that he doesn’t have the muscle tone to cough vigorously enough to expel the fluid.

The Pope has been receving treatment on the 10th floor at Gemelli Hospital

A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the pope’s health, said on Monday evening that the pontiff’s blood tests that day had remained stable.

The pope’s doctors believe the respiratory episode was part of his body’s normal response in fighting infection, the official added.

Francis has experienced several bouts of ill health over the last two years and is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection in both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe.

Nuns pray for Pope Francis in St Peter's Square last night

Francis has not been seen in public since entering hospital, his longest absence from view since his papacy started in March 2013.

His doctors have not said how long his treatment might last after it emerged he suffered two bouts of respiratory failure

Acute respiratory failure, which can be life-threatening, occurs when the lungs cannot pass enough oxygen into the blood, or when carbon dioxide builds up in the body.

The pope’s setback came following several days of relatively upbeat statements about his condition.

The Vatican said the two respiratory episodes on Monday were caused by ‘a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus’.

The pope, it said, had suffered a bronchospasm, akin to an asthma attack, and had required two bronchoscopies, or procedures to inspect his air passages.

His prognosis remains ‘guarded’, Monday’s statement said, which means Francis is not out of danger.

Pope Francis, hospitalised with penuemonia in both lungs, slept ‘all night long and continues to rest’ after suffering two bouts of acute respiratory failure, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Two bulletins, released in the morning and evening, have been issued to provide updates on Francis’s condition throughout his admission at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

It comes after a worrying development on Monday as it emerged the 88-year-old ‘experienced two episodes of acute respiratory failure, caused by a significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm.’

Here is how we reported last night's development of the Pope's health on the website

by Gethin Hicks

Pope Francis has today been put back on ventilation after suffering two new episodes of respiratory crises, the Vatican said.

Following a weekend where the Pontiff, 88, ‘rested well’ after suffering a coughing fit on Friday evening, the Vatican have announced that the Pope’s health worsened today.

Francis reportedly suffered two episodes of respiratory crisis caused by a ‘significant’ amount of mucus accumulation in his lungs and bronchial spasms.

Read more here:

Hello and welcome to ‘s live coverage as Pope Francis remains in hospital where he suffered two bouts of respiratory failure.

The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with bronchitis, which developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking alarm across the globe.

The Vatican said Francis’ health had shown slight improvement but fears were raised last night after it emerged he experienced ‘two episodes of acute respiratory failure’ caused by a build up of mucus.

Acute respiratory failure, which can be life-threatening, occurs when the lungs cannot pass enough oxygen into the blood, or when carbon dioxide builds up in the body.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates on the Pope’s health throughout the day.