MOSCOW, March 22 — Pope Francis, currently undergoing treatment for pneumonia, will need lengthy rehabilitation to restore speech, said the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith's prefect Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez.
"I had an opportunity to talk to him, and I am happy because I knew that his body might react this or that way, and eventually, I was right because physically he is feeling well.
"Now he needs rehabilitation because after a long time with the intensive oxygen flow, everything goes dry, and then you need to almost learn to speak again," the cardinal said at an event in Rome on Friday, as reported by Sputnik/RIA Novosti.
Fernandez added that now the Pope speaks with difficulty, but is remaining in the same condition. Simultaneously, he dismissed suggestions that Pope Francis might retire and said that, in his opinion, he will not be sent home from the hospital before Easter.
"He might return, but the doctors want to be 100 per cent sure and want to wait for a while," Fernandez said.
On Wednesday, the Holy See said that the pope no longer needs ventilation at night, and improvements in physical therapy continue.
On March 6, the pontiff recorded an audio message in which he thanked people for their prayers for his recovery.
The pope was admitted to Rome's Gremelli Hospital on February 14, where he was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and double pneumonia.
— Bernama
