Prime Minister Georgia Meloni says pope was ‘alert and responsive’ and cracking jokes during hospital visit.
Pope Francis’s blood tests have shown a “slight improvement” in his condition as he receives hospital treatment for pneumonia, the Vatican has said.
The 88-year-old pontiff was now in stable condition, as he continues to battle an ongoing respiratory infection, the Vatican said on Wednesday.
Francis was admitted to Gemelli Hospital in Rome, Italy, on February 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are stable,” said a brief Vatican statement.
“Blood tests … show a slight improvement, particularly in the inflammatory markers.”
The Vatican had previously said that the pope had a polymicrobial infection, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a “complex clinical situation”.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid a visit to the pope earlier on Wednesday, and said he was “alert and responsive,” and had made jokes with her.
“He hasn’t lost his proverbial sense of humour,” said Meloni, the pope’s first known visitor in hospital.
While she and Francis don’t see eye-to-eye on her crackdown on migrants, they have teamed up on a campaign to reverse Italy’s low birth rate.
A Vatican official said earlier on Wednesday that Francis was not on a ventilator and was breathing on his own.
The official said the pope had been able to get out of bed and sit in an armchair in his hospital room, and was continuing to do some work.
Pilgrims at the Vatican on Wednesday for the pope’s cancelled weekly audience expressed hope for his recovery.
“We will pray for him so that he can recover as soon as possible,” said Gianfranco Rizzo, a pilgrim from Bari, Italy.
Victoria Darmody, a tourist from England, said she came to the Gemelli Hospital to be near the pope.
“We were hoping to go to the papal audience today but felt this was the right place to be instead,” she said.
The Argentine pope is especially prone to lung infections because as a young adult, he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.