Pope Francis's condition has stabilised following a major health setback, but he is again using a ventilation mask at night to help him breathe.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who suffers from chronic lung disease and underwent partial lung removal in his youth, experienced two respiratory crises on Monday.
Medical professionals extracted a significant amount of mucus from his lungs and administered noninvasive mechanical ventilation overnight.
By Tuesday morning, his condition had improved enough to allow him to breathe with the aid of supplemental oxygen delivered through a nasal tube.
Despite the improvement, doctors said they planned to reinstate the ventilation mask during the night to ensure adequate oxygen flow.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said the Pope had slept well overnight and woken around 8am local time.
Francis’s medical team described his condition as stable, but his prognosis remains guarded.
The lack of in-person medical updates from his doctors since February 21 underscores the fluctuating nature of his condition.
This hospitalisation began on February 14 and marks the longest of his 12-year papacy.
The Vatican reported that the Pope spent Tuesday resting, praying, and undergoing respiratory physiotherapy.
Argentines pray for the pope at hospital
On Tuesday, a group of Argentines from the country's embassies in Rome brought a statue of Our Lady of Lujan to the Gemelli hospital to pray for Francis. The Argentine pope is particularly devoted to the blue veiled Lujan Madonna, which has been revered in Argentina since the 17th century.
"I am very happy to be now close to him," said the Reverend Fernando Laguna, parish priest of the Argentine church in Rome. "I would like to hug him, but it's not possible, but he told us that a prayer is like a hug.
“So I am happy despite the pain."
Vatican prepares for Lent without Francis
Francis's treatment comes as the Vatican prepares for Lent, the solemn period leading up to Easter on April 20.
A cardinal has been designated to take Francis's place this week on Ash Wednesday, which opens Lent with a traditional service and procession in Rome. The pope was also supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this coming weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy.
On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in "spiritual communion" with him. The theme, selected weeks ago and well before Francis got sick, was ‘Hope in eternal life’.
Francis, who is not physically active, uses a wheelchair and is overweight, had been undergoing respiratory physiotherapy to try to improve his lung function. The accumulation of secretions in his lungs was a sign that he does not have the muscle tone to cough vigorously enough to expel the fluid.
Doctors often use noninvasive ventilation to stave off intubation or the use of more invasive mechanical ventilation. Francis has not been intubated during this hospitalisation.
It is not clear if he has provided any instructions on the limits of his care if he declines seriously or loses consciousness.
Catholic teaching holds that life must be defended from conception until natural death. It insists that chronically ill patients, including those in vegetative states, must receive "ordinary" care such as hydration and nutrition, but "extraordinary" or disproportionate care can be suspended if it is no longer beneficial or is only prolonging a precarious and painful life.
Francis articulated that in a 2017 speech to a meeting of the Vatican's bioethics think tank, the Pontifical Academy for Life. He said there was "no obligation to have recourse in all circumstances to every possible remedy".
He added: "It thus makes possible a decision that is morally qualified as withdrawal of 'overzealous treatment.'"
