The Pope as (im)patient

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Apr 11, 2025

What should we make of yesterday’s surprise appearance by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s basilica?

The images released by the Vatican are startling. The Pope looks disheveled, dressed not in white cassock and zucchetto but in baggy trousers, his upper body wrapped in some sort of blanket or poncho—the sort of outfit one might expect to see on a convalescent patient in the hospital, but (to put it mildly) not what we expect for a public appearance of the Roman Pontiff. His aides—his full-time nurse Massimilliano Strappetti and another unidentified man—are in shirtsleeves, not the conservative suits always worn by papal escorts. There is no security detail in evidence.

How to explain this extraordinary appearance? The Vatican press office said that “the Holy Father was taking a walk and decided to prolong it by going to pray in the basilica.” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni was more candid, saying: “Sometimes things are born out of a desire to surprise, and they surprise us too.”

So Pope Francis wanted to surprise people by popping up unexpectedly among the tourists and renovation workers in the basilica. He acted on impulse, as he is wont to do, asking to be wheeled into St. Peter’s, and his nurse and therapists were in no position to oppose his wishes. No doubt other Vatican officials would have argued against the visit, and at a minimum insisted that the Pontiff be dressed in his usual regalia. And no doubt the Pope knew that. So he made the excursion without consulting anyone; he took the whole Vatican by surprise.

Anyone who has endured a long dull recovery from illness, and the cabin fever that strikes during convalescence, should readily sympathize with the Pope’s desire to break out of the confines of the St. Martha residence. But the doctors who are supervising his treatment, and who insisted that he would need two full months to recover from double pneumonia, might not be so sanguine about his public appearance.

The Pope is under doctor’s orders—orders that were broadcast to the world—not to hold meetings. Yet he has resumed meetings with some Vatican officials, and this week met with King Charles and Queen Camilla, not to mention the unscreened tourists and craftsmen who shook his hand on his foray into St. Peter’s. The Vatican press office, surely having consulted with the Pontiff, is still holding out the possibility that he might play an active role in public liturgical ceremonies during Holy Week—that is, next week. Do you suppose his doctors would approve? I doubt it.

The Pope’s medical condition is now stable, the Vatican assures us. Stable, yes; but not good. He still requires supplemental oxygen, and has round-the-clock medical assistance at his Vatican residence. He still speaks only with difficulty. In his recent public appearances, the videos show him moving his arms, but no other part of his body; his elbows remain fixed on the arm rests of his wheelchair. The latest medical bulletin, like the one before it, cites only “slight” improvements in his respiratory condition and his mobility. The doctors who treated him at Gemelli Hospital cautioned that he would remain vulnerable to the sorts of bronchial infections that endangered his life in February.

As we continue to pray for the Pope’s health, let’s add a prayer that he will be a good patient, and not allow his impatience to endanger his recovery.