Pope Francis no longer needs ventilation, is stable, Vatican says

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis remained stable through the day on Sunday and no longer required the use of mechanical ventilation to breathe, the Vatican said, in a sign of progress as the 88-year-old pontiff battles double pneumonia.

Francis has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital for more than two weeks. He was admitted on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.

"The clinical conditions of the Holy Father have remained stable throughout the day," said the latest detailed update about the pontiff's condition on Sunday.

The pope, it said, no longer needed the use of what the Vatican has called "non-invasive mechanical ventilation" but was continuing to receive oxygen via a small hose under his nose.

The statement said the pope had not had a fever on Sunday. It said doctors were keeping his prognosis as "guarded" due to "the complexity of the clinical picture", meaning the pope is not out of danger.

Francis, who is spending his 17th night in hospital, met earlier on Sunday with two Vatican officials and offered thanks to well-wishers for their prayers and support in a written message.

"I would like to thank you for the prayers," Francis said in a note released by the Vatican in place of his usual Sunday prayer with pilgrims, which the pope was not able to lead for the third week running.

"I feel all your affection and closeness and ... I feel as if I am 'carried' and supported by all God's people," the message said.

TREATMENT CONTINUES

Francis also met at the hospital on Sunday with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's number-two official, and Parolin's deputy, said Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni, without giving further details about the meeting.

The pope, who is known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican during his hospital stay and last met Parolin and the deputy at the Gemelli on February 24.

A Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to discuss the pope's health, said earlier on Sunday that Francis was eating normally and moving about his hospital room as he continued his treatment.

Francis has experienced several bouts of ill health over the last two years and is prone to lung infections because he had pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.

Double pneumonia is a serious infection of both lungs that can inflame and scar them, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican has said the pope's infection is "complex", and had been caused by two or more microorganisms.

The pope has not been seen in public since entering hospital, his longest absence from view since his papacy started in March 2013, and his doctors have not said how long his treatment might last.

(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Helen Popper and David Holmes)