Pope Francis suffering from kidney failure in addition to pneumonia

ROME — Pope Francis is suffering from “initial, mild kidney failure” in addition to the serious respiratory illness that has left the 88-year-old pontiff in critical condition in a Rome hospital, the Vatican said Sunday.

Describing a “complex” clinical picture, the Vatican said that the kidney ailment was “at present under control,” and that there had been no repeat of the respiratory crisis that the pope had experienced Saturday.

The pope was “alert and well oriented,” the Vatican said, and he attended Mass in his suite along with the medical staff caring for him.

Blood tests indicated the early stages of kidney failure, the Vatican said, but also showed that Francis’ anemia had improved. He was still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen, it said.

Because of the “complexity of the clinical picture,” and because it would take time for the drug therapies to “provide some feedback,” his doctors said that the situation remained critical.

Prayers for Francis poured in from around the world, as concerns mounted about his health.

In his homily Sunday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan called for those present to “pray with and for” Francis. He also said what no one at the Vatican has publicly admitted: that Francis might not recover.

“We of the Catholic family, and so many of our friends and neighbors find ourselves this morning at the bedside of a dying father,” Dolan said. “As our Holy Father, Pope Francis is in very, very fragile health and probably close to death.”

On Saturday, the Vatican had said that Francis had had a long “asthmatic respiratory crisis” that required “high flows of oxygen.” He also had a blood transfusion, but was alert, according to the Vatican, which is issuing bulletins in consultation with the medical staff at the hospital as well as the pope’s doctor at the Vatican.

Francis was admitted to the Policlinico Agostino Gemelli on Feb. 14 with a complex respiratory tract infection that developed into pneumonia in both lungs. Doctors said the calibration of his treatment was especially complex because of his age, and preexisting lung disease.

Speaking to reporters Friday, doctors had for the first time described Francis’ condition as critical, adding that his situation could change day by day. Sergio Alfieri, a surgeon who is on Francis’ medical team, has said that the pope had told him that he was aware of his own fragility and that his health was precarious. “He told us both doors are open,” he said.

© 2025 The New York Times Company