体調不良のローマ教皇、容体改善で医師に感謝

【バチカン市国ＡＦＰ＝時事】ローマ教皇庁（バチカン）によると、肺炎で入院中のローマ・カトリック教会のフランシスコ教皇（８８）は容体が改善している。１０日には、医師や医療従事者への感謝の意を表した。一方、毎週行っている「アンジェラスの祈り（お告げの祈り）」は、４週連続で直接執り行うことができなかった。（写真は、ローマ・カトリック教会のフランシスコ教皇が入院するジェメリ大学病院前で祈る人々）
　先月１４日からイタリア・ローマのジェメッリ大学病院に入院している教皇は、書面でお告げの祈りを発表し、困窮している人々を支援するボランティアへの感謝の意を示すとともに、その「寄り添いと思いやり」を称賛した。
　さらに、「私もまた、献身的な奉仕と思いやりに満ちたケアを受けている。特に医師や医療従事者には、心から感謝している」と述べた。
　教皇は気管支炎の治療のために入院したが、その後、両肺に肺炎を発症し、健康状態への懸念が高まっていた。しかし、バチカンは８日、教皇が治療に良好に反応し、「徐々にわずかな改善」が見られ、ここ数日間は危機的な状況には至っていないと発表した。
　９日夕方の医療報告によると、教皇に発熱はないものの、医師団は「今後数日間のさらなる回復」を確認した上で、予後の見通しを示す考えだ。次の報告は１０日午後に発表される予定である。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/03/10-16:58）

Pope Francis, who the Vatican said is responding well to treatment for pneumonia, thanked his doctors and healthcare workers on Sunday as he missed delivering a fourth straight Angelus prayer in person.
The 88-year-old, in Rome's Gemelli hospital since February 14, issued a written Angelus in which he thanked those who volunteer to help others in need, praising their closeness and tenderness.
I too experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and healthcare workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart, he said.
We need this, the 'miracle of tenderness' which accompanies those who are in adversity, bringing a little light into the night of pain, he said in the text published by the Vatican.
The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics has spent time at the Gemelli before, notably for colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia operation in 2023.
This hospitalisation has been more serious, however, with Francis suffering several respiratory crises, prompting fears the road to recovery would be long, or might force the elderly pontiff to resign.
On Saturday, the Vatican said the pope appeared finally to be responding well to treatment and had seen a gradual, slight improvement, marking several days without crises.
Though the pope does not have a fever, his doctors want to see more positive results in the coming days before giving a prognosis, an evening medical bulletin said.
On Sunday, the Vatican press office said the pope was stable.
The doctors confirmed the situation remains the same as yesterday, and the pope had seen slight improvements... in a complex overall picture, it said.
The next bulletin is expected on Monday afternoon.
- 'Given so much' -
Francis has been alternating rest, prayer and bits of work when he feels up to it.
On Sunday he received Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, and Edgar Pena Parra, a Venezuelan archbishop who is also a senior Vatican official.
He continued his treatment, doing both his physiotherapy and his breathing exercises, the press office said.
Francis also followed spiritual exercises being held at the Vatican via video link, though while he could see participants, they could not see the pope, it said.
People who gathered in St Peter's Square on Sunday, where Francis would usually stand at a Vatican window to read the Angelus to crowds below, said his presence was sorely missed.
He is a wonderful person who has given so much and I hope that he can return as soon as possible, said Diana Desiderio, who volunteers with the civil protection agency in the Italian city of Pescara.
She and fellow volunteers are praying that Francis will return to the window again and bring peace and serenity to everyone, because we need it, she told AFP.
The pope ended the Angelus with his traditional call for peace in conflicts, in particular in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said he had learnt with concern of the resumption of violence in some areas of Syria: I hope that they cease definitively, with full respect for all ethnic and religious components of society.
Catholics have also been gathering at the Gemelli hospital to pray for Francis or leave flowers, candles and cards.
Giuseppe Antonio Perazzo, 74, was at the hospital for the second Sunday in a row, dressed smartly in a suit and tie in the hope that the pontiff might appear at the window.
A sign he propped up in sight of the windows of the pope's rooms urged the Argentine pontiff -- a notoriously headstrong patient -- to keep doing what the doctors and nurses tell you to do.