Pope Francis shows improvement in pneumonia recovery, the Vatican says

The head of the Catholic Church Pope Francis continued his recovery from pneumonia, eating breakfast out of bed on Thursday morning after a sixth peaceful night at the hospital, the Vatican said.

The Holy See's spokesperson Matteo Bruni issued a new update after confirming late Wednesday that new blood tests showed a “slight improvement” in some areas.

The 88-year-old pontiff, who had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023, is prone to respiratory infections in the wintertime.

Pope Francis was visited on Wednesday by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, his first known high-level visitor. After their 20-minute visit, she reported that the pope was in good spirits and “joked around as always”.

The pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital last Friday after a bout of bronchitis. He was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, on top of a polymicrobial infection in his respiratory tract.

He is taking a combination of antibiotics and cortisone for what doctors also diagnosed as asthmatic bronchitis.

Doctors say pneumonia in elderly patients can make them particularly prone to complications, given the difficulty in being able to effectively expel fluid from their lungs.

Aside from his age, concerns over Pope Francis' health stem from the fact that his current diagnosis could cause further issues, as he had part of one lung removed as a young man.