Despite his longest hospitalisation to date, due to a complex respiratory infection and double pneumonia with an unclear prognosis, Pope Francis has still managed to project the message that he remains in charge even from his hospital room.
With no “vice-pope” to pick up the slack, the centre of government for the Catholic Church the past two weeks has no longer been the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City, but the papal suite on the 10th floor of Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
Since the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has gained a reputation for unpredictability and impulsiveness and a style of papacy that has confounded close aides and top officials, leaving almost everyone perpetually unclear what course of action he will taken on a given matter, and when.
