# Pope Francis is on "absolute rest" for bronchitis: Feb 2025 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [February 15, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368 "2025-02-15T23:23:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/1 "2025-02-15T23:23:49Z")
I’m not Catholic, but I do know that his health has been faltering in recent years. There’s some chatter that he’s actually terminally ill; we’ll find out eventually. > **[Doctors order 'absolute rest' for Pope Francis due to respiratory infection](https://www.npr.org/2025/02/15/nx-s1-5298688/pope-francis-respiratory-infection-hospital)** > > Doctors prescribed "absolute rest" for Pope Francis, the Vatican said Saturday, a day after the 88-year-old pope was admitted to a hospital following a weeklong bout of bronchitis. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/2 "2025-02-15T23:58:04Z")
I was suspicious when the Vatican reported his condition as “fair” rather than satisfactory or good ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/3 "2025-02-16T00:03:01Z")
He has done a lot of good. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/4 "2025-02-16T00:07:07Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I was suspicious when the Vatican reported his condition as “fair” rather than satisfactory or good Are popes graded like comic books? I bought a fair copy of Fantastic Four #50 and the cover fell off. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/5 "2025-02-16T00:08:55Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Are popes graded like comic books? Sounds more like the typical terminology used for public statements of “conditions” of hospitalized people. Good, fair, serious, critical, etc., in decreasing level of overall health. Typically, if someone’s in “good” condition, one would expect that they would not need to remain hospitalized for much longer. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/6 "2025-02-16T02:59:21Z")
Bronchitis with only one lung has got to be quite serious. I’ve got two, and was diagnosed with bronchitis about a month ago. The doc figured it had turned bacterial. I did a round of antibiotics. I’m still coughing a ton. I’m not surprised they have him on complete rest. I feel ok, but I find I’m still exhausted more so than normal. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/7 "2025-02-16T03:11:15Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Are popes graded like comic books? Would that make the new ones [“papal mint”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_mint)? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/8 "2025-02-16T04:19:05Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > . . . actually terminally ill; we’ll find out eventually. Aren’t we all? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/9 "2025-02-16T04:47:51Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Would that make the new ones [“papal mint”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_mint)? Sometimes, even Mint in Box. [![](https://cdn.britannica.com/00/254600-050-D0F6F4E0/pope-benedict-xvi-popemobile-at-Olympiastadion-stadium-Berlin-Germany-2011.jpg) ](https://cdn.britannica.com/00/254600-050-D0F6F4E0/pope-benedict-xvi-popemobile-at-Olympiastadion-stadium-Berlin-Germany-2011.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/10 "2025-02-16T19:35:37Z")
My first thought on reading the thread title was that absolute rest for bronchitis was something that Francis had issued a papal decree on. And I was thinking that that was a peculiar choice of topic for him to pontificate on. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/11 "2025-02-16T19:48:06Z")
If he can’t get a lungful of air does that mean the doctrine of papal inflatability has expired? Yeah, I’m going to hell anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/12 "2025-02-16T20:03:31Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Are popes graded like comic books? Ha! I’ve also heard he shits in the woods. But I’m not Catholic, so I may have heard that one wrong. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/13 "2025-02-16T20:42:52Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I’ve also heard he shits in the woods. > > But I’m not Catholic, so I may have heard that one wrong. Not sure about Francis, but when he was younger, Karol Wojtyla, who would become Pope John Paul II, was an avid outdoorsman, and enjoyed hiking, skiing, and kayaking. It’s entirely possible, if not likely, that he did, at some point, shit in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/14 "2025-02-16T20:53:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > topic for him to pontificate on. I just realized a new etymology today. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/15 "2025-02-17T06:35:43Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Bronchitis with only one lung has got to be quite serious. I’ve got two, and was diagnosed with bronchitis about a month ago. The doc figured it had turned bacterial. I did a round of antibiotics. I’m still coughing a ton. I’m not surprised they have him on complete rest. I feel ok, but I find I’m still exhausted more so than normal. Does he have just 1 lung, or 1 1/2 lungs? The linked article says “Francis had part of one lung removed as a young man”. How would a partial lung function? And over 30 years ago, as a healthy young person, I had a serious case of bronchitis. I still remember how it took me months to recover. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/16 "2025-02-17T06:37:07Z")
The left lung has two lobes, and the right lung three (most of the time). A lobe can be isolated and removed, and the rest of the lung functions as usual and may even expand to fill in the space. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/17 "2025-02-17T10:49:25Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I was suspicious when the Vatican reported his condition as “fair” rather than satisfactory or good Reminds me of when Queen Elizabeth died. The first BBC announcement was that doctors ‘were concerned for her health’. Which is when I knew she was either already dead or about to die. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/18 "2025-02-17T11:36:32Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The left lung has two lobes, and the right lung three (most of the time). A lobe can be isolated and removed, and the rest of the lung functions as usual and may even expand to fill in the space. Yeah. I even recall a case where the parents of a young girl with cystic fibrosis each donated a lobe to their daughter. Since she was so small they effectively acted like whole lungs for her, and they’d grow as she did. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/19 "2025-02-17T18:25:57Z")
The Vatican has now stated that the Pope is suffering from a “polymicrobial respiratory tract infection”: > [@](#): > > Essentially, it means there’s a mix of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites growing in someone’s lungs. > > “Often times, people will get a bronchitis or an airway infection and that can often start a cascade of multiple problems, including infections in the lungs,” said Dr. Maor Sauler, who specializes in adult pulmonary and critical care medicine at Yale University’s School of Medicine. He said such issues were common in older people whose immune systems might be weaker or had complex health issues. > > “It likely means he has more than one organism in his lungs,” Sauler said, explaining that the pope’s doctors might have to adjust his treatment to make sure the antibiotics attack all the various organisms. What they have not yet said is anything about the severity of the infection, or further details on any changes to his treatment. > **[Vatican says the pope has a 'polymicrobial respiratory tract infection.' What...](https://apnews.com/article/pope-illness-polymicrobial-infection-6638f63730046f420b4d0a6d364826f7)** > > Vatican authorities said Monday that Pope Francis has a complex infection in his respiratory system and will require more targeted drug treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/20 "2025-02-17T20:26:48Z")
Pneumonia is a serious illness, especially in elderly people and especially if they have had previous lung issues. “Rest” does not really suggest whether this is a serious case. Being intubated or being managed in an intensive care unit does. “Double pneumonia” is a common term, usually for a viral infection that is followed by a bacterial one. Unsure if Francis smoked. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368.md?page=2)