The Pope has passed a “peaceful” night in hospital, the Vatican said after describing his condition as “critical” on Saturday.
The 88 year-old suffered a “prolonged asthmatic respiratory crisis” on Saturday morning, which was treated with high flows of oxygen.
He also received blood transfusions associated with anaemia, raising concerns of sepsis.
However, the night “passed peacefully” and the Pope rested, Vatican officials said on Sunday morning.
They added that he was alert and was sitting up in an armchair, but warned that his prognosis “remains guarded”.
For the second Sunday in a row, the Pope will not appear in public to lead his usual “Angelus” prayer in St Peter’s Square, with an open letter to be read instead at midday.
The Pope was to have presided over this ceremony at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Sunday, when deacons celebrated the jubilee year, but ill health prevented him – Alessandra Tarantino/AP
The Pope, undergoing treatment for pneumonia in both lungs at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome since last Friday, has asked Vatican colleagues and medical staff be open about his health.
Saturday’s statement was one of the starkest and most detailed yet about the “delicate balance” his complex condition presented.
”He is the Pope,” one of the doctors treating him said. “But he is also a man.”
Originally from Argentina, the Pope is especially prone to lung infections after developing pleurisy – an inflammation around the lungs – as an adult. He had part of a lung removed at 21.
Deacons at a jubilee ceremony in the Vatican on Sunday, which the Pope was unable to attend – Alessandra Tarantino/AP
He has been taken to hospital several times during his 12 years as leader of the Roman Catholic church, but this stay has prompted rumours at the Vatican that he might resign – and jostling behind the scenes over the future leadership of the church.
No photographs of the Pope have been released since he was admitted to hospital, adding fuel to speculation about his health.
Vatican officials said he has prayed in the hospital chapel and read newspapers in his armchair, and earlier this week received a visit from Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister.
Well-wishers have been stopping to pray, or to leave votive candles and messages, outside the Gemelli hospital.