Vatican News

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.

A painting of Christ being laid in the tomb, long hidden under layers of overpainting and forgotten by history, will once again be visible to the public in an upcoming exhibit at the Vatican.

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla confirmed their plans to meet at the Vatican with Pope Francis in early April in an announcement March 18.

Pope Francis has approved the next phase of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, launching a three-year implementation process that will culminate in an ecclesial assembly at the Vatican in October 2028.

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.