Pope Francis “rested well” throughout the Monday night as he continued to battle double pneumonia in hospital, the Vatican said early Tuesday.
“The Pope rested well, all night,” the Vatican said in a brief, one-line statement. It did not expand further on the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition or on whether he had been able to continue work activities from his hospital bed.
The update was shorter than previous ones, which included further information on the pope’s activities.
The update came after the Holy See on Monday said that while the pope’s condition remained critical, he had shown a “slight improvement” and had been able to resume work from his hospital bed, including calling the “pastor of Gaza Parish to express his fatherly closeness.”
It added that a “mild kidney insufficiency” that had been reported over the weekend had initially sparked some alarm was no longer being considered a cause for concern.
Still, in an update, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni cautioned that doctors “in view of the complexity of the clinical picture, conservatively do not yet change the prognosis from being guarded.”
Earlier on Monday, a Vatican source had told NBC News’ international partner, Sky News, that Francis was eating normally.
Fears have grown over the pontiff’s condition after he was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and later diagnosed with “double pneumonia,” or pneumonia in both lungs, with the pop suffering asthma-like symptoms over the weekend.
On Monday night, the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin led the first nightly masses with the cardinal of Rome to pray for Francis in St. Peter’s Square.
Hundreds of people could be seen in photos gathered in the square, where the pontiff blessed the people and asked for their blessing on his first day as pope.
“From this evening,” Parolin said Monday night, according to Vatican News, “we too want to unite publicly, here in his home, with the recitation of the Holy Rosary.”
“We entrust him to the powerful intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” he said, adding: “May she, our loving Mother, support him in this time of illness and trial and help him recover soon.”
