Close advisers to Pope Francis situation newest well being replace on the Pontiff – after the Vatican is pressured to answer swirling conspiracy theories

Pope Francis is in ‘good humour’ and is ‘recovering well’ according to his close advisers despite ‘toxic’ conspiracy theories circulating which claim the ailing pontiff is ‘really dead’.

The 88-year-old has spent almost five weeks in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital after a complex lung infection turned into pneumonia in both lungs but is recovering well, according to two of his closest advisers.

Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, Vatican Chief of staff, said he found Francis in good humour and serene during the three times he has visited him in hospital.

And Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the only other Vatican official to have visited him aside from his personal secretaries, said: ‘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 humour, and – just like him – tough with the desire to go forward,’ he said.

It comes as a wave of bizarre conspiracy theories have circulated online claiming that Pope Francis is ‘really dead’.

Italian social media users have flooded platforms with wild suggestions that the leader of the Catholic Church is dead and that the papal ‘deep state’ is hiding the news.

Some have even claimed that the Vatican is using doctored audio of his voice to fool the public. 

The Pope sounded breathless as he delivered a brief message in his native Spanish earlier this month. He expressed thanks ‘from the bottom of my heart’ to well-wishers around the world who have offered their support.

But in an appearance outside a shopping mall, Italian media personality Fabrizio Corona proclaimed: ‘He is really dead.

‘The audio is fake. It’s done with artificial intelligence.’

Some accounts have also claimed that the photo of the pontiff shared by the Vatican on Sunday were either old or AI-generated.

Others have descended on the hospital itself to try and garner evidence for their outlandish theories.

Simone Basile, also known as The 8th King of Rome, has racked up millions of TikTok views during three trips to the hospital.

Leaving the hospital on Tuesday, he said: ‘It’s an unmistakable sign that he is no longer.’

Another influencer, Er Bombolino, peered through hospital windows in one of his videos while questioning whether the pope is ‘dead or alive’.

Roman Catholic cardinals have since issued desperate calls to ‘free ourselves from much fake news’ as rumours continue to spread, despite the church issuing regular updates on the Pope’s condition.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said: ‘They say we, the Roman Curia, keep Francis frozen so that we can do our scheming.’

He suggested that the Vatican’s efforts to be more transparent than ever about the Pope’s health, which have involved regular public updates, have not stemmed accusations of a cover-up on social media.

Cardinal Ravasi added: ‘It’s the first time that they are saying the raw truth about the pope’s condition. It doesn’t work. It’s a toxic atmosphere.’

Vatican officials are also privately discussing the fake reports, according to the New York Times.

The Vatican press office today said that Francis’s condition remained stable with slight improvement as he continues respiratory and physical physiotherapy. 

He no longer requires a mechanical ventilation mask at night and is continuing to reduce his reliance on high-flow supplemental oxygen he has needed to breathe during the day.

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, a friend of the Pope, today said that ‘a new stage’ was opening in Francis’s 12-year pontificate.

Cardinal Fernandez, an Argentine theologian whom Francis brought in as the Vatican’s doctrine chief, said that he had been in touch with Francis since he was taken to hospital and was heartened that he had stabilised.

He said doctors were keeping him at the hospital ‘to be 100%’ and ruled out Francis’s resignation.

Cardinal Fernandez revealed that Francis had resisted going to hospital when his bronchitis worsened, and agreed to go only after people close to him threatened to resign if he did not.

‘I don’t know what swearwords they used (to tell him) you have to go there, otherwise we go home and end our relationship here,’ he said.

‘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.