Pope's doctors say their patient is fragile but is not giving up

ROME (CNS) -- Briefing reporters on Pope Francis' medical condition, two of his doctors also gave them glimpses of a patient who is physically fragile, but mentally alert, joking with staff and insisting on doing what work he can manage.

"He does everything we ask him to do. He never complains," said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, director of medical and surgical sciences at Rome's Gemelli hospital.

"This morning I went in and said, 'Good morning, Holy Father,' and he nodded and said, 'Good morning, holy son,' just to show you the Holy Father is absolutely present," Alfieri told reporters at the briefing Feb. 21.

"The pope cares about the church very much, so it is clear he put the church first while also allowing himself to be treated" for bronchitis and difficulty breathing while still in his Vatican residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthe, said Dr. Luigi Carbone, vice director of the Vatican health service and part of Pope Francis' medical team.

When it was clear he needed more intensive treatment, the doctors said, Pope Francis agreed to be hospitalized. He has been in the suite of rooms reserved for the popes on the 10th floor of the Gemelli since Feb. 14.

After a week of treatment, Alfieri said, the pope's condition is much better, but he still has spots of pneumonia in both lungs and a polymicrobial infection in his airways, meaning it is caused by a combination of bacteria, viruses and mycetes or fungi.

Like many elderly people, Pope Francis was dealing with the flu and bronchitis at home and then went to the hospital when his condition worsened, Alfieri said. But "with the difference that other people of 88 years, generally are at home watching television seated in a rocking chair."

"Do know another 88-year-old man who governs a state and is also the spiritual father of all Catholics in the world?" Alfieri asked. "He does not spare himself because he has enormous generosity."

Despite his recent improvement, he said, it is best for the pope to remain in the hospital at least another week, "also because if we send him back to Santa Marta he will start working again as before."

The doctors were asked if, when Pope Francis is allowed to return to the Vatican, they would "tie him to a chair," order him to cut his schedule, read fewer speeches and see fewer people.

"I don't think the pope would allow himself to be tied to a chair," Alfieri responded.

"Absolutely not," Carbone added. "Knowing the temperament of the Holy Father, he's not someone who gives up."

"We can make recommendations, but he is the one who decides," Alfieri said. "But can you imagine this pope in his office not receiving or meeting anyone?"

Alfieri said Pope Francis asked the doctors to be honest with him, telling them, "Look, I know I am an old man and have some chronic problems," which Alfieri said are bronchiectasis and asthmatic bronchitis, caused by years of respiratory problems and repeated bouts of bronchitis.

"So, he said, sir, I realize that the situation at my age is serious," the doctor told reporters. "He knows all the doors are open," meaning he hopes he will recover but it is possible that something goes wrong.

"He knows he's in danger," Alfieri said.

The doctors said they write the evening medical bulletins which are published by the Vatican press office after consulting the pope's medical team and the pope himself.

"He has never asked us to lie," Alfieri said.

Some days the bulletins are very brief, he said, but that is because the complex drug therapy Pope Francis is receiving takes time to work.