Vatican City, Holy See—Pope Francis has approved the canonization of two new saints from his hospital bed, the Vatican revealed on Tuesday, as the 88-year-old pontiff, who has pneumonia in both lungs, works through his recovery.
Despite his critical condition, the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has striven to keep up with Church matters during his now 12-day stay in hospital, as believers across the globe gathered to pray for him.
After revealing a “slight improvement” in the Argentine pope’s condition Monday evening, the Vatican said Tuesday he had received the Vatican’s secretary of state the day before, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and his number two, Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra.
Francis approved the canonization of two Venezuelan and Italian laymen, who died in the early 20th century, while authorizing the first steps towards sainthood for three 19th century priests from Spain, Italy and Poland, the Vatican said.
The pope has been working from his special papal suite on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted February 14 with breathing difficulties.
His condition worsened, with asthmatic respiratory attacks at the weekend that required high levels of oxygen and blood transfusions to combat anaemia.
Catholics across the globe have gathered to pray for the pope as some expressed hope he may have turned a corner on what doctors warn could be a long path to recovery.
The Vatican’s Monday update offered a glimmer of light, saying that Francis had suffered no new respiratory attacks that required “high-flow oxygen,” while his laboratory tests had also improved.
He had also called the Gaza parish priest, as he has routinely done since the war broke out, the Vatican said.
Still, the pope remains fragile, and his medical team have cautioned it will take time for his drug treatments to show positive effects.
“Considering the complexity of the clinical picture,” his doctors declined to “decide on the prognosis,” the Vatican said Monday.
Hundreds of faithful gathered under intermittent rain in St. Peter’s Square Monday evening, as dozens of cardinals recited the rosary for Francis.
Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga—a former coordinator of the pope’s Council of Cardinals—told La Repubblica daily Tuesday he felt hopeful the pope would pull through.
“It’s not yet time for him to go to heaven,” Maradiaga said.
“He is someone who does not back down in the face of difficulty, does not get discouraged, does not freeze, and does not stop moving forward,” he told the paper.