Pigeons on a statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 where Pope Francis has been hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14.

Faithful make the sign of the cross during a rosary vigil prayer for Pope John Paul II's health in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican, Friday, April 1,

Photographer's shadows are cast on a marble statue of late Pope John Paul II outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, Thursday,

Nuns pray in front of the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis continues his treatment for pneumonia, in Rome, Italy. Poplar trees next to Sefton Park Allotments in Liverpool cast long shadows in the evening sun.

A statue of late Pope John Paul II stands outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is receiving medical treatment Outside the Gemelli Hospital in Rome stands a large statue of one of its most famous patients,

The statue of Pope John Paul II is backdropped by the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic where Pope Francis is hospitalised in Rome, Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Candles are left at the foot of a marble monument of late Pope John Paul II outside Rome's Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Nuns pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic,

Time-honored rituals, drafted and refined over centuries, allow time for mourning and provide order at a dramatic moment of transition.

The Vatican said doctors had to put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation following a coughing fit in which he inhaled vomit that needed to then be extracted.

Pope Francis, who has been in hospital for more than two weeks with double pneumonia, spent a "calm night," the Vatican said on Sunday, March 2, after reporting he was in a stable condition. "The pope is still resting," the Holy See said in its latest health update on the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis is alert and cheerful as he battles double pneumonia in hospital, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday after paying a visit to the ailing leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church.