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.

The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 after experiencing difficulty breathing for several days and subsequently had pneumonia diagnosed in both lungs.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis for 20 minutes in the hospital Wednesday and reported he was “alert and responsive” and full of good humor, despite his diagnosis of pneumonia and a complicated bronchial infection that has sidelined the 88-year-old pontiff for six days.

"We will pray for him so that he can recover as soon as possible," said Gianfranco Rizzo, a pilgrim from Bari, Italy. The pope has been plagued ... and is known especially for often treating the late Pope John Paul II during his long papacy.

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.

Pope Francis is alert and still making jokes despite having double pneumonia, Italy's prime minister said Wednesday ... have been set at the bottom of a statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital, where pilgrims have been coming to pray.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has continued making decisions and is improving, but his two-week hospital stay poses uncomfortable, unanswered questions about Vatican decision-making.

The exhibit responds to Saint John Paul II’s call for greater understanding and devotion to the Shroud of Turin, which many believe to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. During his 1998 visit to the Shroud, the late pope reflected on its profound mystery, describing it as “a truly unique sign that points to Jesus.”

Rome's Gemelli hospital, where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, is the favoured choice of pontiffs — to the point of being dubbed "Vatican III" by John Paul II. The 88-year-old Francis is on his fourth stay at the Gemelli since 2021.