Pope Francis, battling double pneumonia in hospital, is in a stable condition and has shown "slight improvement" in results from recent blood tests, the Vatican has said.
The 88-year-old pontiff is undergoing treatment at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on Friday after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.
"The clinical conditions of the Holy Father are stable," said a brief Vatican statement. "Blood tests ... show a slight improvement, particularly in the inflammatory markers."
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis in hospital, a day after he was diagnosed with double pneumonia, saying that she had found him alert and responsive.
"We joked as always. He hasn't lost his proverbial sense of humour," Ms Meloni said in a statement.
Pope Francis's heart is holding up very well despite his double pneumonia, a Vatican source said.
The Vatican official, who did not wish to be named because he was not authorised to speak about the Pope's condition, said this morning that Pope Francis was not on a ventilator and was breathing on his own.
The official said the Pope had been able to get out of bed and sit in an armchair in his hospital room, and was continuing to do some work.
Pope Francis, who is spending his sixth day in hospital for treatment of a respiratory infection, is alert and ate breakfast, the Vatican said in its latest update on the pontiff's health.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs and makes breathing more difficult.
The Vatican had said previously that the Pope had a polymicrobial infection, which occurs when two or more micro-organisms are involved, adding that he would stay in hospital as long as necessary to tackle a "complex clinical situation".
The Vatican is expected to give a further update on the Pope's condition later today.
The Pope has been plagued by ill health in recent years, including regular bouts of flu, sciatica nerve pain and an abdominal hernia that required surgery in 2023.
As a young adult he developed pleurisy and had part of one lung removed.
All the Pope's public engagements have been cancelled until at least Sunday and he has no further official events on the Vatican's published calendar.
'Very targeted therapy'
Gemelli hospital is known especially for often treating the late Pope John Paul II during his long papacy.
Pope Francis spent nine days at Gemelli in June 2023, when he had surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.
Outside the hospital, people were leaving flowers and small personal notes under a famous statue of John Paul II, wishing a speedy recovery for the Pope.
Rev Dr Andrea Vicini, a Jesuit priest and medical doctor, said it was notable that the Vatican's statement yesterday referred to the pontiff as having the onset of pneumonia and not bronchopneumonia.
The latter would indicate an infection that is more widespread, he said.
"It (sounds like) it's more localised and has not spread," said Dr Vicini, a professor at Boston College, who said he did not have details of the Pope's case beyond the Vatican's public statements.
"If they identified the pathogen, as I expect they would have done, they will have a very targeted therapy," he said. "I am optimistic. It seems they are controlling what is happening."
A wave of messages of support for the Pope had come in from across the world, the Vatican's official media outlet reported.
Pilgrims at the Vatican for the Pope's cancelled weekly audience expressed hope for his recovery.
"We will pray for him so that he can recover as soon as possible," said Gianfranco Rizzo, a pilgrim from Bari, Italy.
Victoria Darmody, a tourist from England, said she came to the hospital just to be near the Pope.
"We were hoping to go to the papal audience today but felt this was the right place to be instead," she said.
'Delicate situation'
Work at the Vatican was continuing as the Pope was in hospital.
One senior official, Cardinal Michael Czerny, was still expected to depart for a five-day visit to Lebanon.
The Vatican's top diplomat, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, returned to Rome as scheduled earlier from a trip to Burkina Faso.
The Vatican published drawings done by children in the hospital for Pope Francis, as well as letters from parents asking him to pray for their sick offspring.
Jesuit theologian Antonio Spadaro, who is close to Pope Francis, told Italy's Corriere della Sera daily the Pope could be in hospital for two to three weeks.
"It is clear that the situation is delicate, but I have not perceived any form of alarmism", he said.
The Pope "has an extraordinary vital energy. He is not a person who lets himself go, he is not a resigned man. And that is a very positive element, we have seen that in the past", he said.
Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, was admitted to hospital after struggling for several days to read his texts in public.
He has left open the option of resigning if he became unable to carry out his duties.
But in a memoir last year he said it was just a "distant possibility" that would be justified only in the event of "a serious physical impediment".
