Vatican breaks with centuries-old tradition to give health updates on Pope

Francis ‘wants the gravity of his condition made clear’. The Vatican has historically maintained a strict silence regarding the health of the Pope, the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. However, the recent hospitalisation of Pope Francis with double pneumonia has prompted a shift in this long-standing practice.

Since Pope Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14, the Holy See press office has been providing daily updates on his condition. These updates have included details about the Pope's treatment, such as the use of high-flow oxygen and blood transfusions, as well as a description of a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis” on February 22.

Greg Erlandson, a US journalist with decades of experience covering the Vatican, expressed his approval of this new approach, stating that the updates “build trust that we are getting a fairly accurate summary” of the Pope's condition. John Thavis, a Vatican correspondent who has covered three papacies, noted that this transparency "fits with Francis's open style of communicating but is a departure from the Vatican's traditional reserve on the topic of papal health".

According to doctors treating Francis, it was the 88-year-old pontiff himself who requested that daily updates be given. Doctor Sergio Alfieri, at the Gemelli hospital, said the instructions were to write updates "without withholding anything". One person known to speak with Francis frequently, who asked not to be named to discuss the pope's preferences without authorisation, said the pontiff himself had helped draft the updates in his first days in hospital, and pushed his doctors to give more specific details about his condition and treatment.

Mr Thavis said Francis “wanted the gravity of his condition made clear”. Vatican officials have not spoken publicly about the reasons for the detailed updates, but in private, several officials have expressed worry about the spread of misinformation.

Soon after the pope was admitted to hospital, social media posts began claiming he had died or been given last rites. False AI-generated images purporting to show him being kept alive with the help of a ventilator also began circulating. The pope's daily medical updates have said repeatedly that he is breathing on his own but occasionally being provided oxygen, as needed, via a small tube under his nose.

“The Vatican has finally learned that it is better to be forthcoming than to let conspiracy theorists fill the void,” said Tom Reese, a Jesuit priest and commentator who has covered the papacy closely. Pope John Paul II, whose papacy lasted from 1978-2005, had visible tremors for years before the Vatican finally confirmed in 2003 that he had Parkinson's disease.

And the stomach cancer that afflicted Pope John XXIII for at least eight months was only revealed long after his death in 1963. "The old saying is that the pope's never sick until he's dead," said Christopher Bellitto, a historian at Kean University in New Jersey who studies the Catholic Church. "That's changed.".