Pope Francis passed a quiet night in hospital, the Vatican said on Sunday (Mar 9), after revealing that the 88-year-old was responding well to treatment for pneumonia. "The night

The Vatican has set in motion nightly prayers for Pope Francis in the hope that he might recover and get back to leading the Catholic Church.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is responding well to therapy for double pneumonia and has shown a “gradual, slight improvement” in recent days.

Pope Francis "had a tranquil night and woke shortly after 8 a.m.," the Vatican said, coming a day after he made his first public comments since being hospitalized.

Pope Francis increased his physical activity Wednesday, called the Catholic parish priest in Gaza and celebrated the start of Lent by receiving ashes on his forehead, the Vatican said. The Holy Father suffered no respiratory crises during the day,

St Peter's Square is bustling, but behind the Vatican's walls, activities have slowed as the Catholic Church grapples with the uncertainty caused by the absence of Pope Francis. In the press room just off St Peter's Square,

Pope Francis entered his fourth week in hospital with double pneumonia on Saturday, increasingly handing off his day-to-day duties. In his absence, Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrated Mass for an anti-abortion group in St.