Hospitalised pope marks 12 years in job with future uncertain

AFP | Vatican

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City Pope Francis marked 12 years as head of the Catholic Church yesterday, seemingly out of danger after a month in hospital but with his health casting a shadow over his future.

The 88-year-old was for a time critically ill as he battled pneumonia in both lungs at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on February 14.

The Argentine’s situation has markedly improved since then, with the Vatican confirming his condition as stable on Wednesday evening, and talk is now turning to when he might go home.

But his hospitalisation, the longest and most fraught of his papacy, has raised serious doubts about his ability to lead the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics.

Slowing down Francis had before now refused to make any concessions to his age or increasingly fragile health, which saw him begin using a wheelchair three years ago.

He maintained a packed daily schedule interspersed with frequent overseas trips, notably a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region in September, when he presided over huge open-air masses.

But experts say his recovery could take weeks given his age and recurring health issues, not helped by having part of one lung removed as a young man.

“The rest of his pontificate remains a question mark for the moment, including for Francis himself,” said Father Michel Kubler, a Vatican expert and former editor in chief of the French religious newspaper La Croix.

“He doesn’t know what his life will be like once he returns to the Vatican, and so no doubt reserves the option of resigning if he can no longer cope,” he said.