Pope Francis thanks medical employees for ‘miracle of tenderness’

Pope Francis has issued an announcement from his hospital mattress thanking medical staff caring for him and others who’re unwell.

“Whereas I’m right here, I consider the various people who find themselves.. near the sick,” he mentioned, describing them as “bringing a little bit mild into the night time of ache”.

The pontiff has been battling pneumonia and bronchitis for greater than three weeks in hospital, however has proven a slight enchancment in latest days says the Vatican.

The Vatican mentioned on Saturday the Pope had proven a “good response” to his therapy at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

“The medical situation of the Holy Father in latest days has remained secure and, consequently, signifies a superb response to the therapy,” the Vatican mentioned.

“There’s subsequently a gradual, slight enchancment”, it added.

For the fourth consecutive Sunday, the Argentine Pontiff was not current for his weekly blessing, however the Vatican shared the textual content he had ready.

Francis spoke of his “extended hospitalisation” throughout which he had skilled “thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, specifically from the docs and well being care staff, whom I thank from the underside of my coronary heart.”

“I consider the many individuals who in numerous methods are near the sick, and who’re for them an indication of the Lord’s presence.

“We want this, the ‘miracle of tenderness’ which accompanies those that are in adversity, bringing a little bit mild into the night time of ache.”

On Saturday morning the 88-year-old prayed in the chapel of the papal suite at Gemelli Hospital the place he’s being handled, the Vatican mentioned.

The pope has not been seen in public since getting into the hospital on 14 February, his longest stretch away from the general public eye since his papacy started 12 years in the past.

He was admitted to hospital on 14 February after experiencing respiratory difficulties – and first handled for bronchitis earlier than being recognized with pneumonia in each lungs.

He’s notably weak to pneumonia, an an infection of the lungs that may be attributable to micro organism, viruses or fungi, after he contracted pleurisy – an irritation of the lungs – as a younger man and had a partial lung removing.

The Pope’s docs imagine he’s prone to face a protracted street to restoration, because of his age and medical historical past.