Pope Francis battles pneumonia - and rumours of resignation

By Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - As Pope Francis has battled double pneumonia in hospital for nearly three weeks, talk of the 88-year-old pontiff's death or resignation has become almost commonplace.

Some newspapers have published articles informing their readers about what to expect during the papal funeral. A few senior Catholic cardinals are talking openly about the possibility that Francis could follow his predecessor Benedict XVI and resign.

Yet Francis is alive, with the Vatican's most recent updates indicating his condition may be improving, although he had a setback on Monday.

And, reading the signs coming from Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he has been treated since February 14, the pope doesn't appear to have plans to resign any time soon.

"He's always been a fighter," said Elisabetta Pique, a personal friend and biographer of Francis. She said the former Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, elected pope in 2013, doesn't have any plans to step down.

"He doesn't give in under pressure," said Pique, a correspondent for the Buenos Aires-based La Nacion newspaper. "The more pressure they put on him, the more likely he won't give in."

Speculation about the pope's possible resignation started a few days after his hospitalization. Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, a retired prelate not known as close to the pope, suggested in a February 20 radio interview that Francis might renounce the papacy.

French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, sometimes listed as a possible successor to Francis, when asked about the possibility of resignation at a Vatican press conference, responded: "Everything is possible."

'DISTANT HYPOTHESIS'

Francis, who has shunned much of the pomp and privilege of the papacy and has sought to open up the often staid Catholic Church to the modern world, has laughed off speculation about his fate.

After a February 19 meeting in hospital with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy's Corriere della Sera reported that he told her: "Some have been praying for the pope to go to heaven, but the Lord of the Harvest thinks it best to keep me here."

Austen Ivereigh, who co-wrote a book with the pope in 2020, said that comment may have been light-hearted, but it said something serious.

"What he's saying is actually this is about God's will, not anybody else's," said Ivereigh. "In other words, you may want a new pope - but, look, I'm still alive, I'm still here."

The pope has ruled out resigning in the past, calling it in 2024 a "distant hypothesis".

Like several popes before him, Francis has said he signed a letter of resignation shortly after his election in 2013, meant to be used only if a severe mental issue made it impossible for him to carry out his duties.

It is unclear how or if such a letter could ever be used. Church law has no procedure for determining if a pontiff has become incapacitated. It also specifies that a pope's resignation must be "made freely and properly" by the pontiff himself.

'HE'S STILL THE POPE'

Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital.

Staff appointments needing his approval are being announced at their regular daily pace. He has continued signing official messages to Vatican offices, with notes added at the bottom to say they are being sent "from Gemelli hospital".

The pope has met twice in hospital with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's number two official, to discuss pending matters. The Vatican has said the meetings are "audiences", the official term for an encounter with the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church, no matter where the pontiff is.

Ivereigh, who has written two biographies of Francis, said the pope is sending a clear signal from hospital that he is the one governing the Church.

"He's a man of governance who understands authority," said Ivereigh. "It's important for him that we know that he's present and still in charge. He's still the pope."

Doctors have not said when the pope, who has a history of serious lung infections, will be released from hospital.

Many Catholics will be familiar with the image of a frail pope. The late Pope John Paul II was seen in public suffering from Parkinson's disease for years before his death in 2005.

"He has a tranquillity of doing what God asks of him," Pique said of Francis. "His big weapon is always prayer, and good humour."

(Editing by Crispian Balmer and Janet Lawrence)