Francis still requires therapy, Vatican says, as pope looks ahead to 2028

VATICAN CITY, Holy See — Pope Francis is improving but still requires various in-hospital therapies, the Vatican said Saturday, even as it revealed the 88-year-old pontiff had laid plans to extend his years-long Synod process into 2028.

The Argentine pope on Friday marked one month in Rome's Gemelli hospital, where doctors for days have said his condition is stable and slowly improving after a critical period marked by breathing crises that risked his life.

But on Saturday, the Vatican cut short any speculation he could be released imminently, cautioning that, despite the progress, he still required therapies to be administered within a hospital environment.

"The clinical conditions of the Holy Father have remained stable, confirming the progress shown in the last week," the Vatican said in an evening bulletin on his health.

"The Holy Father still requires hospital medical therapy, motor and respiratory physiotherapy; these therapies, at present, are showing further, gradual improvements," it added.

The Vatican has given no indication as to when Francis could be released from the hospital's special papal suite on the 10th floor.

But in a sign that Francis continues to work to cement his legacy for reform of the Church, the Vatican also said Saturday he had approved from his hospital bed a new plan related to the Synod, a years-long global consultation that he has shepherded since 2021.

The Synod, which focused on pressing issues affecting the future of the Catholic Church, ended in October, with the pope yet to reveal whether he will incorporate its findings into a papal document known as an apostolic exhortation.

The extension announced Saturday calls for a three-year consultation and evaluation period leading up to a new post-Synod assembly in 2028.

"On 11 March, the Holy Father definitively approved the start of a process of accompaniment and evaluation of the implementation phase by the General Secretariat of the Synod," the Vatican said.

The Synod was the first time the Vatican waded into so many contentious, contemporary social issues so openly, from LGBTQ Catholics to whether women should be ordained as deacons.

The Vatican said the three-year consultation period would involve dioceses and episcopal conferences, as well as lay associations and other parties -- including women -- who have contributed to the Synod process until now.

"It is of fundamental importance to ensure that the implementation phase serves as an opportunity to re-engage the people who have contributed and to present the fruits gathered from listening to all the Churches," said the Vatican.

Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech announced the start of the implementation phase in a letter sent Saturday to bishops around the world.

Heavier mail bags

Meanwhile, even as he improves, the pope is still receiving "thousands" of get-well letters a day from around the world, Italy's postal service said.

Well-wishers have been flooding the city's postal service with letters "from the time of his hospitalisation until today," the postal service said in a statement.

The "surge" in correspondence was being felt at the Fiumicino postal sorting centre, with "up to 150 kilograms more mail per day," said the unit's head, Antonello Chidichimo.

In a bit of self-promotion, the postal service said it was playing a "fundamental role in ensuring that every message of support and prayer reaches its destination".

On the anniversary of Francis's 12 years as pope Friday, his favourite football team -- Buenos Aires' San Lorenzo -- posted a video message of support, with other messages arriving from Brazilian footballer Neymar and Italy's former player Ciro Ferrara.

The Argentine pontiff has previously thanked well-wishers for their letters and prayers, noting their "affection and closeness".

In February, ten days after Francis was hospitalised, the Vatican published a message written by him in which he cited the "many messages of affection".

"I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children," wrote Francis.