Pope Francis: a new way of governing the Catholic Church from the Gemelli Hospital

Since his entry into the Gemelli Polyclinic on February 14, Pope Francis has shown that physical health is not an impediment to continue exercising the leadership of the Catholic Church. In these five weeks hospitalized, it has released a new way of governing the Catholic Church.

Father Antonio Pelayo, correspondent for the Vatican for the Spanish chain Antena 3, told ACI Press that Pope Francis has made important decisions in this convalescence time, such as approveing ​​a three -year plan until 2028 to implement the resolutions of the Synod of Sinodality and create a new organism to raise funds and face the Vatican deficit.

“Almost every day there have been appointments, not only of bishops, but also of Apostolic Nuncios,” says Father Pelayo, including Kurian Mathew Vayalunkal as an apostolic representative in Chile. “The Church is not undertaken. It is governed with a different rhythm, but continues to work,” he adds.

On February 15, one day after his hospitalization, the Pontiff appointed the 56 -year -old Franciscan nun, Raffaella Petrini, as “governor” of the Vatican, a position that became effective on March 1.

Africa concentrates the latest episcopal appointments

Pope Francis has made 49 episcopal appointments in 36 days, mainly concentrating on Africa. He appointed bishops in Bubanza and Rutana (Burundi) on February 15, and in Dakar (Senegal) and Maradi (Niger) on February 21.

In February he appointed the Bishop of Tabora (Tanzania) and on February 28 to Leribe (Lesotho). On March 8 he appointed the Bishop of Bafatá (Guinea-Bisáu), showing his interest in strengthening the Church in Africa. A day before he created the new Diocese of Bagamoyo (Tanzania) and appointed his first bishop.

Asia has also had important appointments, starting on March 1 with the designation of the Bishop of Ajmer, India. Three days later, Pope Francis named the Bishop of Daet, the Philippines. On March 8, he continued with the appointments in that region, designating bishops for Timika (Indonesia) and Cuddah (India).

In America, appointments were made in Brazil (Graja, São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro, ItopeTINGA, Itabuna), Mexico (Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Prelate Jesús María) and Venezuela (Cumaná). In addition, the Pope appointed the military ordinariat for the United States and several bishops in Canada (Baie-Comeau, Vancouver).

In the European continent, he appointed bishops for diocese in Ireland (Achonry), France (Saint-Dié), Italy (Vittorio Veneto, Trivento), Spain (San Cristóbal de la Laguna) and Poland (Poznań). In addition, he appointed the ordinary for the Eastern faithful without their own hierarchy in Poland. Finally, in Oceania he made an appointment in Australia (Armidale).

In the opinion of Fr. Pelayo, this reflects the firmness of the pontiff in the government of the Universal Church despite the disease. “He has said many times, paraphrasing St. John Paul II, that the Church does not have to be governed with the knee where he suffers a problem of osteoarthritis,” recalls the priest and correspondent, which refers to the mobility problems of the pontiff, forced to use wheelchair in his displacements.

A clear sample of the irreplaceable role of Peter’s successor is his authority in the canonization of new saints. At the end of April, the canonization of the Italians Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis is expected.

“The second visit of the Cardinal (Pietro) Parolin and Monsignor (Edgar) Peña Parra to the hospital was precisely for the Pope to sign beatification decrees and set dates for canonizations. Although the dicastery for the causes of the saints prepares these processes, the final decision always falls to the pontiff. In the case of canonizations, the concept of infallibility even the concept of infallibility,” Pelayo

In addition to authorizing the decrees of five servants of God and approveing ​​the canonization of Venezuelan blessed José Gregorio Hernández and the Italian Bartolo Longo, the Holy Father convened a town hall; That is, a cardinal meeting without the Vatican offered more details about the date it will take.

Without clear date for medical discharge

In any case, the recovery of Pope Francis will still take several weeks, which has led to an adjustment in the rhythm of his work. “It has been hospitalized for 36 days, but in my opinion, this is going to continue a lot. That is, we are not talking about days, but of weeks,” says the journalist.

Dr. Matteo Bassetti, director of infectious diseases at the San Martino de Genoa Hospital, points out that the Pope is fragile for his age (almost 90 years) and his respiratory problems, aggravated by the assumption of immunosuppressive medications such as the cortisone.

“These factors have contributed to the Pope’s immune system being considerably weak, which complicates the body’s response to serious infections such as bilateral pneumonia,” Bassetti explains.

While the Vatican reported that the airway infection is controlled, for Dr. Bassetti it is very likely that bilateral pneumonia has left important sequelae in Pope Francis’s lungs.

“It is clear that some damage has caused this infection at the level of its own lung tissue. Probably, the lungs no longer exchange oxygen with the same effectiveness as before,” he explained.

Therefore, a possible scenario back to the Vatican is complicated and the severity of oxygen dependence in the Pope should be evaluated, according to the doctor. “It is important to know if this unit will be a few hours a day or if it will be something longer,” he said.

“To be completely independent of oxygen again is not easy,” said Bassetti, adding that the Pope’s situation is more complex due to the surgery he was at 21 when he was removed from the right lung.

“It is normal to have a prolonged hospital stay when it comes to 88 -year -old patients who are very immunosuppressed,” he concluded.