ROME: Pope Francis is recovering well from pneumonia and that a “new stage” in his pontificate would open, two of his closest advisers said Friday, offering notes of optimism as the 88-year-old pontiff hit the five-week mark in his hospitalization.
Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra told AP that he had found Francis in good humor and serene during the three times he has visited the pope at the Gemelli hospital in Rome.
Peña Parra, who is the Vatican chief of staff, visited Francis on Feb. 24, March 2 and March 9 along with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the lone Vatican officials who have called on him aside from his personal secretaries.
“The pope will recover,” Peña Parra said on the sidelines of a book launch. “The pope is recovering well. The doctors say that he needs some time, but it’s going well progressively.”
“I found him well, serene, in good humor, and — just like him — tough with the desire to go forward,” he said.
The Vatican press office reported Friday that Francis’ overall condition remained stable, with slight improvements as he continues respiratory and physical physiotherapy. He was continuing to reduce his reliance on high-flow supplemental oxygen he has needed to breathe during the day and no longer needs the mechanical ventilation mask at night.
In other comments Friday, another top friend and ally of the pope, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, said that “a new stage” was opening in Francis’ 12-year pontificate and that he expects some surprises from the pontiff when he’s released.
Fernández, the Argentine theologian whom Francis brought in as the Vatican’s doctrine chief, said that he had been in touch with Francis since his Feb. 14 hospitalization and was heartened that he had stabilized. He provided no time frame on when Francis might be released, but ruled out any thought that he might resign.
He said that he understood that Francis was responding well to treatment, but that doctors were keeping him at the hospital “to be 100 percent.” He said that Francis needed rehabilitation therapy to help him regain strength to speak after so many weeks on noninvasive mechanical ventilation and supplemental oxygen.
Fernández revealed that Francis had resisted going to the hospital when his bronchitis worsened, and only agreed to go after people close to him threatened to quit if he didn’t.
“I don’t know what swear words they used (to tell him) you have to go there, otherwise we go home and end our relationship here,” he said.
As a result, he said he knew that the hospitalization had been hard on Francis and had surely made him reflect.
“I think a new stage is opening for him. He is a man of surprises, who will surely have learned so many things in this month and he’ll pull who knows what out of the hat,” he said. “So even knowing that this has been a very heavy effort for him, a difficult time, I know it will be fruitful for the church and for the world.”
Francis hit the five-week mark in his hospitalization Friday. He was admitted Feb. 14 with a bad case of bronchitis that developed into a complex lung infection and double pneumonia. He has long battled respiratory illnesses and had part of one lung removed when he was a young man. He has admitted to being a bad patient and is a known workaholic.
“He wants to spend what little time he has left and says ‘I want to use it and not to take care of myself,’” Fernández said. “And then what happens? He comes back here and it’s not easy for him to follow the advice” of doctors.
That might change after this experience, he said.
“He has to certainly change, but I can’t say what those details might be,” he said.
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Pope Francis advisers say he’ll recover from pneumonia and a ‘new stage’ is opening for him
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Pope Francis advisers say he’ll recover from pneumonia and a ‘new stage’ is opening for him
- Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra told AP that he had found Francis in good humor
- “The pope is recovering well. The doctors say that he needs some time, but it’s going well progressively“
Philippines convicts journalist on terror charge called ‘absurd’
- Community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio is the first Filipino journalist to be prosecuted under the terror financing laws
TACLOBAN, Philippines: A young Philippine journalist who spent nearly six years in a crowded provincial prison was found guilty of terror financing on Thursday in a case rights groups and a UN expert labelled a “travesty of justice.”
Community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio, 26, is the first Filipino journalist to be prosecuted under the terror financing laws, which defense lawyer Julianne Agpalo said have become the government’s “weapon of choice” for silencing dissent.
Cumpio and former roommate Marielle Domequil broke down in tears and hugged each other as the guilty verdict was read and they were sentenced to up to 18 years in prison by judge Georgina Uy Perez of the Tacloban regional court.
The duo, who were both acquitted on a lesser weapons charge, will be eligible for parole in about 12 and a half years.
In a copy of the decision seen by AFP, the court said it was convinced by the testimony of former rebels who said the pair had provided the New People’s Army (NPA), a designated terrorist group, with cash, arms and fabric for clothing.
The Samar-Leyte region that is home to Tacloban is one of the last remaining operating areas of the Maoist insurgency.
Both Cumpio and her advocates have insisted she was a victim of “red-tagging,” in which the government links its critics to the communist forces to silence them.
Speaking outside the courthouse, lawyer Norberto Robel said his team would file an appeal.
“Despite this (ruling), there is still a legal remedy and pending application for bail,” he said.
The case has been closely monitored by human rights groups including Amal Clooney’s Clooney Foundation for Justice, which in October questioned the lengthy detainment, citing “repeated postponements and slow progress.”
UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan had previously said the charges against Cumpio appeared to be “in retaliation for her work as a journalist.”
Cumpio and Domequil were arrested in February 2020 on weapons charges, accused of possessing a handgun and a grenade.
More than a year later, the terror financing charge, which carried a potential 40-year jail sentence, was added.
‘Absurd verdict’
On Thursday, Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), condemned the court’s decision.
“This absurd verdict shows that the various pledges made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold press freedom are nothing but empty talk,” she said, adding it was the first time a journalist had been charged with financing terrorism in the Philippines.
“The ruling underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting.”
Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders, said the verdict demonstrated a “blatant disregard for press freedom.”
“The Philippines should serve as an international example of protecting media freedom — not a perpetrator that red-tags, prosecutes and imprisons journalists simply for doing their work,” she said.
Prosecutors declined to speak with AFP outside the courthouse.
In September, more than 250 journalists and media groups called on President Marcos to release Cumpio, calling the charges “trumped up.”
Following an evening mass on Wednesday, Cumpio’s mother, Lala, told AFP that she visited her daughter in prison once each month, bringing her groceries, medication and chicken from Jollibee.
Bringing in the gravy and soft drinks that accompanied the fast food meals was prohibited by guards, she added.
“Of course, I’m worried,” Lala said of the looming decision. “My youngest keeps asking when his big sister will come home.”
She broke down in tears alongside her two sons outside the courthouse as the verdict was announced.
Community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio, 26, is the first Filipino journalist to be prosecuted under the terror financing laws, which defense lawyer Julianne Agpalo said have become the government’s “weapon of choice” for silencing dissent.
Cumpio and former roommate Marielle Domequil broke down in tears and hugged each other as the guilty verdict was read and they were sentenced to up to 18 years in prison by judge Georgina Uy Perez of the Tacloban regional court.
The duo, who were both acquitted on a lesser weapons charge, will be eligible for parole in about 12 and a half years.
In a copy of the decision seen by AFP, the court said it was convinced by the testimony of former rebels who said the pair had provided the New People’s Army (NPA), a designated terrorist group, with cash, arms and fabric for clothing.
The Samar-Leyte region that is home to Tacloban is one of the last remaining operating areas of the Maoist insurgency.
Both Cumpio and her advocates have insisted she was a victim of “red-tagging,” in which the government links its critics to the communist forces to silence them.
Speaking outside the courthouse, lawyer Norberto Robel said his team would file an appeal.
“Despite this (ruling), there is still a legal remedy and pending application for bail,” he said.
The case has been closely monitored by human rights groups including Amal Clooney’s Clooney Foundation for Justice, which in October questioned the lengthy detainment, citing “repeated postponements and slow progress.”
UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan had previously said the charges against Cumpio appeared to be “in retaliation for her work as a journalist.”
Cumpio and Domequil were arrested in February 2020 on weapons charges, accused of possessing a handgun and a grenade.
More than a year later, the terror financing charge, which carried a potential 40-year jail sentence, was added.
‘Absurd verdict’
On Thursday, Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), condemned the court’s decision.
“This absurd verdict shows that the various pledges made by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to uphold press freedom are nothing but empty talk,” she said, adding it was the first time a journalist had been charged with financing terrorism in the Philippines.
“The ruling underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting.”
Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy manager for Reporters Without Borders, said the verdict demonstrated a “blatant disregard for press freedom.”
“The Philippines should serve as an international example of protecting media freedom — not a perpetrator that red-tags, prosecutes and imprisons journalists simply for doing their work,” she said.
Prosecutors declined to speak with AFP outside the courthouse.
In September, more than 250 journalists and media groups called on President Marcos to release Cumpio, calling the charges “trumped up.”
Following an evening mass on Wednesday, Cumpio’s mother, Lala, told AFP that she visited her daughter in prison once each month, bringing her groceries, medication and chicken from Jollibee.
Bringing in the gravy and soft drinks that accompanied the fast food meals was prohibited by guards, she added.
“Of course, I’m worried,” Lala said of the looming decision. “My youngest keeps asking when his big sister will come home.”
She broke down in tears alongside her two sons outside the courthouse as the verdict was announced.
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