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The pope has been sleeping with a non-invasive mechanical mask
to guarantee that his lungs expand properly overnight and help
his recovery. He has been transitioning to receiving oxygen with
a nasal tube during the day.
The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part
of one lung removed as a young man, has been stable for two days
after suffering a pair of respiratory crises Monday. Doctors
underlined that his prognosis remained guarded due to the
complex picture.
The pope on Wednesday marked the start of Lent by receiving
ashes on his forehead and by calling the parish priest in Gaza,
the Vatican said. He also added physical therapy to his hospital
routine of respiratory therapy.
The Catholic Church opened the solemn Lenten season leading to
Easter without the pope's participation. A cardinal took his
place leading a short penitential procession between two
churches on the Aventine Hill, and opened an Ash Wednesday
homily prepared for the pontiff with words of solidarity and
thanks for Francis.
“We feel deeply united with him in this moment,″ Cardinal Angelo
De Donatis said. ”And we thank him for the offering of his
prayer and his suffering for the good of the entire church in
all the world."
On Ash Wednesday, observant Catholics receive a sign of the
cross in ashes on their foreheads, a gesture that underscores
human mortality. It is an obligatory day of fasting and
abstinence that signals the start of Christianity’s most
penitent season, leading to Easter on April 20.
“The condition of fragility reminds us of the tragedy of death,″
De Donatis said in his homily. ”In many ways, we try to banish
death from our societies, so dependent on appearances, and even
remove it from our language. Death, however, imposes itself as a
reality with which we have to reckon, a sign of the
precariousness and brevity of our lives.”
The pope was supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this weekend
with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy. On Tuesday, the Vatican
said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in
“spiritual communion” with him. The theme, selected before
Francis got sick, was “Hope in eternal life.”
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