Pope Francis had a good night in hospital in Rome, the Vatican said on Thursday morning, where he is being treated for pneumonia. "The night passed quietly; the pope is still resting," the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.

Pope Francis "remained stationary" on Wednesday, "without showing any episodes of respiratory failure," but rested peacefully overnight into Thursday, the Vatican said.

On Ash Wednesday, observant Catholics receive a sign of the cross in ashes on their foreheads, a gesture that underscores human mortality. It is an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence for Catholics that signals the start of Christianity’s most penitent season.