Pope Francis

For Pope Francis' medical team at Rome's Gemelli hospital, Feb. 28 was the worst day.

Immediately before leaving Rome's Gemelli hospital after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and infections, Pope Francis greeted hundreds of people who gathered outside the hospital March 23.

Pope Francis no longer needs the "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" he has used most nights since experiencing a breathing "crisis" Feb. 28, his doctors reported in a bulletin released by the Vatican press office March 19.

Pope Francis spent the night without a breathing mask, the Vatican press office said March 18, indicating that his need for supplemental oxygen continues to diminish.

Pope Francis has been able to spend brief moments of the day without any supplemental oxygen, which is yet another sign of the gradual improvement in his condition, the Vatican press office said.

For the first time since Pope Francis was hospitalized in mid-February, the Vatican press office released a photograph of him March 16; the image shows him concelebrating Mass that morning in the chapel of his suite of rooms at Rome's Gemelli hospital.

After more than a month in the hospital, Pope Francis' condition continues to be stable, the Vatican said March 15, and he gradually is "reducing the need for noninvasive mechanical ventilation at night."

Pope Francis' condition continues to be stable and a chest x-ray "confirmed the improvements recorded in the previous days," his doctors said, but without saying his double pneumonia had cleared up completely.

As Pope Francis prepared to spend the 12th anniversary of his election at Rome's Gemelli hospital, people at the Vatican and around the world were responding to his most frequent personal request.

Pope Francis is no longer considered in imminent danger from his lung infection, but he will remain in Rome's Gemelli hospital for several more days to continue receiving medical treatment, the Vatican said.