Pope’s doctor said medical staff discussed treating pontiff at one critical point or let him pass

One of the doctors who treated Pope Francis during his month-long hospital stay said they had a critical decision to make - treat him, risking dangerous organ damage, or allow him to die.

Professor Sergio Alfieri, the lead doctor who cared for the 88-year-old pope, said the moment was on Feb. 28, when Francis breathed in his own vomit.

“There was a real risk he might not make it,” Alfieri said.

“We had to choose whether to stop and let him go or force it and try with all the drugs and therapies possible, running the very high risk of damaging other organs. And in the end, we took this path,” Alfieri told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Francis' nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, told Alfieri, “‘Try everything, we won’t give up.' That’s what we all thought too. And no one gave up.”

“For days, we were risking damage to his kidneys and bone marrow, but we went ahead, and his body responded to the drugs and his lung infection lessened,” Alfieri said.

On March 10, the pope started making progress and was not in immediate danger.

After 38 days in the hospital, Francis left on March 23.

During the stay which started on Feb. 14, the Vatican gave detailed updates about the pope’s condition, directed by the pontiff himself.

“From the first day he asked us to tell him the truth and he wanted us to tell the truth about his condition… nothing was ever changed or omitted," Alfieri said.

Initially, he was admitted for bronchitis that turned into double pneumonia.

Francis is now at his residence at Casa Santa Marta, where he will continue therapy while also having time for prayer.

He will continue to heal over the next two months, returning to work slowly and has already resumed some duties. Francis has yet to lead the Angelus prayer but has given reflections, calling for peace where wars are being waged.

“You have continued to pray for me with so much patience and perseverance. Thank you so much. I also pray for you,” he said on social media. “Let us pray together for peace, especially in martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

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