# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/41 "2025-02-22T23:11:46Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > . “The English say ‘knock on wood,’ we say ‘touch iron.’ Everyone touch what they want,” he said [![](https://i.imgur.com/xQ0F6f7.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/xQ0F6f7.png) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/42 "2025-02-22T23:43:47Z")
I’m not optimistic about his recovery, TBH. ---
**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 22, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/43 "2025-02-22T23:47:40Z")
You’d need a lot more details to objectively assess his condition. Doctors might, for example, use the PORT score or other severity scale. > **[PSI/PORT Score: Pneumonia Severity Index for CAP](https://www.mdcalc.com/calc/33/psi-port-score-pneumonia-severity-index-cap)** > > The PSI/PORT Score: Pneumonia Severity Index for Adult CAP estimates mortality for adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia. ---
**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 23, 2025, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/44 "2025-02-23T13:12:29Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’m not optimistic about his recovery, TBH. Yep. For those who have not read “Conclave” as a procedural, you might want to hop to it. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/45 "2025-02-23T14:46:08Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Maybe we can get a French pope who’d palled with Samuel Beckett. Ziggy says there’s a 97% probability that you’ll complete your leap if you ordain a female cardinal. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/46 "2025-02-23T14:50:32Z")
As a very lapsed Catholic, I reckon he’s about to die. Bar a miracle, of course. God so lovéd the world after all. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/47 "2025-02-23T15:20:02Z")
Every time a pope gets seriously ill I can imagine Jesse Jackson leading a Vatican crowd chanting “KEEP POPE ALIVE” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/48 "2025-02-23T15:31:16Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > What is a “reserved” prognosis? Sounds like a variant of “guarded” prognosis. Could go either way. ABC News was slow to load the latest update, and for a moment I thought it was telling us “Trump expected to name Kash Patel as acting Pope”. ---
**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 23, 2025, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/49 "2025-02-23T16:59:09Z")
It would seem awkward to pray for his recovery, no? Isn’t that a great outcome - a return to god? I’d think that the prayers would be more like “let God’s will be done!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/50 "2025-02-23T17:08:52Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Ziggy says there’s a 97% probability that you’ll complete your leap if you ordain a female cardinal. will a [Pyrrhuloxia](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pyrrhuloxia/id) do? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/51 "2025-02-23T20:21:37Z")
Probably a literal translation of “Pronostico Reservado” (in Spanish) or it’s similar Italian equivalent. ---
**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 23, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/52 "2025-02-23T20:28:00Z")
I mean, whenever an 88-year-old is hospitalized, there’s only so good the prognosis can be. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/53 "2025-02-23T20:32:31Z")
And when a famous 88 years old’s press secretary says he is in danger, they are signaling that they expect him to die soon. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/54 "2025-02-23T20:54:57Z")
“Mild kidney failure” according to the Vatican press office. > **[Pope still in critical condition with signs of ‘mild’ kidney failure, Vatican...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/23/europe/pope-francis-hospital-kidney-intl-latam/index.html)** > > Pope Francis remains in critical condition, according to the Vatican, with blood tests showing mild signs of kidney failure “which is currently under control,” the Vatican said Sunday, as the 88-year-old pontiff battles pneumonia in both his lungs. When it comes to kidney function, isn’t it pass/fail? How can kidneys fail mildly? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/55 "2025-02-23T20:55:37Z")
I used to attend a Lutheran church whose pastor, while doing healing prayers, would say, “Lord, heal this person to the degree You find appropriate” but he knew a little about what he was talking about, because he’d had a liver transplant. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/56 "2025-02-23T23:30:57Z")
There is talk about possible successors: [Who will be the next pope – and how does the conclave work? | The Week](https://theweek.com/news/religion/960338/papal-succession-the-cardinals-in-the-running-to-be-the-next-pope) ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/57 "2025-02-23T23:33:19Z")
Thanks to Hollywood, we’re all experts now. That movie is going to rake it in on pay-per-view. ---
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/58 "2025-02-24T13:41:18Z")
No, it’s a spectrum, measured by glomerular filtration rate (glomeruli are individual filtration units in the kidney). Imagine if you had a filter that only delivered, say, 40% of the flow rate it did when it was new. You could plausibly say the filter was experiencing partial failure. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/59 "2025-02-24T13:50:42Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > “Mild kidney failure” according to the Vatican press office. Waiting for the announcement that he’s slightly dead… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368/60 "2025-02-24T14:54:17Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > > > “Mild kidney failure” according to the Vatican press office. > > Waiting for the announcement that he’s slightly dead… - That means he’s mostly alive… _Reaches for mutton sandwich._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pope-francis-is-on-absolute-rest-for-bronchitis-feb-2025/1014368.md?page=4)