Pope Francis was conscious but still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen Sunday following a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, the Vatican said.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis was conscious but still receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen Sunday following a respiratory crisis and blood transfusions, as he remains in critical condition with a complex lung infection, the Vatican said.

“The night passed quietly, the pope rested,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in an early statement.

Further clinical tests were being performed on the 88-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, and a more detailed medical update was expected later Sunday.

On Saturday, Francis suffered a prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis that required “high flows” of oxygen to help him breathe through a nasal tube. He also received blood transfusions after tests showed low counts of platelets, which are needed for clotting, the Vatican said.

Doctors said Saturday his prognosis was “reserved.”

  • Doug HollandEnglish
    7•4 hours ago

    Can science save an old liar’s life, giving him a few more years to spread the lies?

  • LupusBlackfur
    1•3 hours ago

    Anybody see smoke from the Vatican, yet…???

    • Ebby
      8•3 hours ago

      I thought this pope was generally regarded as nice, replacing the last post which was evil incarnate.

      Even Catholics thought he was too progressive in some areas.

      • @[email protected]
        7•2 hours ago

        He’s been a PR pope whose purpose was to convince you that the Catholic Church is less regressive than it is. None of their stances on LGBT people have fundamentally changed, and they are still a huge driver of anti-abortion laws and access issues, even in the US; did you know 1 in 10 hospitals in the US are Catholic? In some areas that means your only option doesn’t do abortions, even if it’s legal in your state and you have a medical need for one. Or if they make an exception it’s only after making you unnecessarily risk sepsis. The same kind of stuff you’re seeing people die/nearly die from in states where abortion is illegal.

        And there’s pretty much always Catholics who think the current pope is Going Too Far if they do anything short of reversing Vatican II.

        • @[email protected]
          2•2 hours ago

          Not even 4 months have passed and again we have people ranting about the lesser of two (or 30) evils.