Pope Francis

[BoSoxGal]

Reading between the lines of the published accounts, it seems fair to consider that Pope Francis is very likely currently dying.

Italy does have some of the best medical care in the world and in the Pope's suite he's getting the very best they have to offer - but a polymicrobial respiratory infection in a very elderly man with preexisting lung issues is not at all a positive thing.

Pray for him if that's your thing.

[Burning Petard]

Isn't there a movie tie-on for this? I think it is called 'Conclave' and i read the book. The book ended with very near the last page revealing that the newly elected pope was trans.

snailgate.

[BoSoxGal]

Isn't there a movie tie-on for this? I think it is called 'Conclave' and i read the book. The book ended with very near the last page revealing that the newly elected pope was trans.

snailgate.

No, that’s not what happened at all.

The big reveal is that the newly elected Pope was born and assigned male based on external genitalia and lived all his life as a male - then abdominal surgery for unrelated illness revealed that he was also born with the internal organs of a female, ovaries and a uterus, which would make him a normal biological variation of human known as intersex.

And after exploring his conscience, he decided to keep the lady bits God made him with, because they’d done him no harm all his life and might in fact have been his special gift.

Nothing trans involved at all.

I haven’t read the book but did watch the movie three times in a row after renting it for a couple of days, it was very good and to my thinking when considering also the role of the nuns in the conclave, the overall message is something about the role of women in the Church.

[Burning Petard]

And I have not seen the movie. I read the book only once, so I am a very unreliable witness. But still an interesting plot twist.

snailgate.

[Big RR]

Did the book mention (or even suggest) it before the final plot twist. I was disappointed with the movie; it was dropped at the very end and, FWIW, it didn't make that much of a difference to me at all. The new pope was not a transexual, merely a person who was born, in all respects, male and raised as male, who later found out he had female organs internally. There was no mention of whether those organs functioned or not, whether he had any high levels of female hormones, or even if it made any difference in his life at all--merely that he said leave them as that is the way god made him. IMHO it was as inconsequential as if he had been discovered to have an extra appendix or a third tonsil.

It could have been interesting if we understood it did make some difference to him or even if the hardliners had discussed how (or why) he could not be judged male and could not be a priest (or even if he modified his position on some issues after discovering he had these internal parts), but to me it just seemed like it was thrown into the movie as an afterthought. I think (or kind of hope) that there's more to the story.

[BoSoxGal]

The update is that he has been diagnosed with double pneumonia but is in good spirits.

[Joe Guy]

He'd be a defective Pope if he was in bad spirits.

[BoSoxGal]

[Sue U]

Would have thought "holy spirit," but I'm just here to write the dumbest jokes.

[eddieq]

Double pneumonia in a man his age is serious business. I'm not Catholic, but I certainly pray for his comfort and recovery.

We lost my dad this past November. Started with a respiratory infection in August and complications after. He was on the mend, but it all caught up with him.

[Scooter]

Italian press is saying that today he was "mildly improved" and has had no fever.

[BoSoxGal]

I forgot to post yesterday that the update was he’s doing well but will stay in hospital at least a week.

But just now the update is that he is in critical condition following an asthmatic crisis.

I don’t mean to be obsessed but he came the closest to being what I think a pope should be and I’m sad that his window is closing.

I hope he is comfortable.

[Scooter]

By my count there are 138 cardinals who are at this point still eligible to elect the next pope. Francis elevated all but 29 of them. So there is some hope that enough of them are of a similar mind to his and would elect someone in his mold.

[rubato]

Did his food taster take a day off?

Yrs,
Rubato

[BoSoxGal]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/ ... ufficiency

He seems determined to try to stick around for the newest unfolding of fascism on the world stage.

[rubato]

[/quote]
He failed.

[BoSoxGal]

https://www.reuters.com/business/health ... 025-03-07/

[Big RR]

I've been listening to the updates on the pope's health and am concerned about their veracity; if he were as good as is being said, why is he still in the hospital? In the US, I would bet any person in the shape he is said to be in would be sent to a nursing home/rehab center for continued care; they could provide the monitoring and oxygen. Likewise, I'd be surprised if the Vatican doesn't have room./wing to provide the same (with regular doctor visits) ; certainly it would be preferable to keep him there, if only for security. That he is still in the hospital makes me think there are some undisclosed problems.

Kind of reminds me of when Trump had covid; if he wasn't in that bad shape, he could have gotten the same care (round the clock skilled nursing care, monitoring by physicians, even ventilation if needed) in the WH, so there must have been some other concern to send him to Walter Reade (and, FWIW, I doubt Trump really wanted the optics of him going to the hospital to be in the public eye). It must have been more of a concern than stated to the press.

[BoSoxGal]

I'm sure we aren't being told every little truth, but I am not as suspicious as you are.

The Pope has his own suite at the hospital where he is being treated, and he is within feet of all the most cutting edge ICU treatment apparatus for whatever kind of interventions he might need.

The risk of sepsis is very high in persons suffering from bacterial infections including pneumonia, especially elderly persons with compromised immunity. Sepsis can set in within a very, very short time frame and can kill in a very, very short time frame. The best way to stay ahead of it is to be in a hospital setting with very frequent monitoring of bloodwork and access to the docs within minutes, not hours.

Just a few days ago the Pope's condition was expressed as 'guarded' and not yet out of the woods - that's not the time to go to rehab. Rehab facilities are for when infection is cleared entirely and the patient needs some weeks of PT and OT to get back to normal functioning. Rehab isn't a place for an active infectious process to be treated.

I have read news that the hospital where he is still being treated for pneumonia is working on some PT/OT, whatever can be done in that limited setting. An elderly body loses muscle mass very rapidly when bedridden for any length of time, and Pope Francis was already suffering from mobility issues and using a chair much of the time so he is already weak/fragile in that regard - so they are attempting to prevent a further diminishment of his ability to stand, transfer, and walk short distances which all make life much easier than becoming dependent on others for any kind of movement.

I'm impressed by how hard his body is fighting considering his history of lung issues. I expect that if he does survive this crisis he will soon announce his impending retirement as he is very unlikely to spring back to his prior baseline and probably realizes it's getting time to pass the torch - or chalice, as the case may be.

[Big RR]

I guess time will tell; I sincerely wish him the best as he is one of the few popes I have had much respect for.