Pope Francis ‘slept all night’ after Monday’s acute respiratory failure, Vatican says
Christoph Sator/picture alliance via Getty Images
(ROME) — Pope Francis “slept all night” following Monday’s medical intervention amid two episodes of “acute respiratory failure,” the Vatican said Tuesday.
“The pope slept all night, now he continues his rest,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a brief update.
The episodes on Monday were caused by a “significant accumulation of endobronchial mucus and consequent bronchospasm,” the Vatican said.
According to doctors, acute respiratory failure indicates the pope was not responding to oxygen therapy. Endobronchial mucus means there is mucus and fluid in the deep parts of the lung or lungs, causing a bronchospasm, also known as a coughing attack, doctors said.
The pope’s prognosis “remains reserved,” the Vatican said in its Monday evening update.
Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. The 88-year-old pontiff had a bronchospasm attack on Friday, church officials said.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(DOHA) — Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement to end over 15 months of fighting — with a brief pause in November 2023 — and release some of the hostages still in captivity in the Gaza Strip.
However, despite an agreement between negotiators on both sides, the deal still needs to go through a four-step ratification process in the Israeli government before it can go into effect.
Step 1
The agreement has to be officially voted on favorably by the security cabinet, then approved by the full cabinet. The vote is expected to be 28-6 in favor of the deal, with some hard-liners holding out.
Once that vote happens, the agreement would be ratified.
Step 2
Once ratified, the names of the 33 Israeli hostages to be released from Gaza are expected to be announced.
Step 3
From the time the cabinet ratifies the agreement, there will be a 48-hour window allowing for appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court against the agreement.
Any appeal is expected to be rejected by the court.
Step 4
Once the 48-hour legal window closes, the implementation of the agreement begins.
The first release of an Israeli hostage can be expected from that time on.
(SEOUL) — A team of U.S. investigators arrived in South Korea to assist local aviation officials as they comb the wreckage of the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 aircraft that crashed Sunday, killing 179 people.
Three members of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board are leading the U.S. team, which also includes advisers from the Federal Aviation Administration, Boeing and CFM International, a jet-engine manufacturer. Some of those advisers will be on site and others will remain in the U.S., the NTSB said.
“Additional NTSB investigative staff are standing by to assist if needed, including specialists in recorders, powerplants, and survival factors, among other specialties,” the board said in a statement.
In the wake of the deadly plane crash at Muan International Airport, local officials are also now investigating similar aircraft models that are operating in airports around the country.
Jeju Air Flight 2216 was landing just before 9 a.m. when the plane went off the runway and crashed into a wall. There were a total of 175 passengers and six crew members aboard the Boeing 737, which had taken off from Bangkok, Thailand.
A total of 179 people aboard the flight were killed, with two flight attendants — a man and a woman — being the only survivors of the crash.
Officials were continuing to identify the victims of the crash. Five of the remains were still unidentified as of Tuesday, local officials said. The remains of four individuals being transported to their respective families for funeral.
Authorities are conducting a full investigation into over 100 aircraft that are the same model, B737-800. The planes are currently operating in six local airlines, officials said.
The investigation includes reviewing the maintenance history of the engines, landing gears and the aircraft’s operation records.
“There are no plans to suspend operations, but they will examine those parts once more and check them thoroughly during the inspection process,” said Song Kyung-hoon, head of Jeju Air’s Management Support Division.
The Muan International Airport runway will be closed for the investigation until Jan. 7, officials said.
The two flight attendants who survived the crash were recovering at separate hospitals in Seoul on Monday, according to the Korean Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport.
Neither survivor had life-threatening injuries, the ministry said, adding that both had awoken in the hospital without a clear recollection of what had happened after they heard a blast during the landing.
The man, who was identified only by his surname Lee, was receiving treatment for fractures in an intensive care unit. He was alert and speaking with medical staff, Ju Woong, director of the Ewha Womans University Seoul Hospital, said at a press conference on Monday.
“[Lee is] fully able to communicate,” Woong added. “There’s no indication yet of memory loss or such.”
The woman, a 25-year-old flight attendant named Koo, was also recovering, though not in intensive care, according to hospital staff and officials, as well as the Korean Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.
Flowers and candles are laid at the statue of John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized with pneumonia, in Rome on February 27, 2025. (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)
(ROME) — The Vatican said that the pope “slept well during the night and is now resting” peacefully on Thursday morning as the pontiff begins his 14th day in hospital.
Pope Francis’ condition improved slightly on Wednesday, though officials say they “remain guarded” over his prognosis, according to the Vatican.
The slight renal insufficiency the pope had in recent days has subsided and a Tuesday CAT scan of the chest showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary inflammatory picture.
The blood chemistry and blood cell count tests carried out Wednesday have confirmed the pope’s improvement, but he remains on high-flow oxygen therapy and did not have any asthmatic-like respiratory crises.
The pope received the Eucharist on Wednesday morning and the afternoon was dedicated to work activities, the Vatican said.
Pope Francis’ condition remains “critical but stable,” Vatican officials said in a brief update on Tuesday.
“There have been no acute respiratory episodes and hemodynamic parameters continue to be stable. In the evening, he underwent a scheduled CT scan for radiological monitoring of the bilateral pneumonia. The prognosis remains uncertain,” the Vatican said Tuesday.
The pontiff, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was diagnosed with pneumonia last week, according to the Vatican.
