Pope’s doctors considered stopping treatment to ‘let him go’ after health crisis

Pope Francis appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome (Domenico Stinellis/AP)

Pope Francis’ medical team briefly considered suspending treatment, but instead decided on an aggressive course that put his organs at risk, the doctor co-ordinating his hospital care has said.

Dr Sergio Alfieri said the 88-year-old pontiff and people close to him alike understood “that he might not survive the night”, after the bronchospasm attack during which the pope inhaled vomit.