The recording of the ailing 88-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church was played while pilgrims gathered ... Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 with a dangerous case of double pneumonia. It was not immediately clear when the recording was made ...

Pope Francis is awake and resting Thursday after a peaceful night during his third week of hospital treatment for double pneumonia.

The Holy Father's prognosis remains complex as he engages in Lenten traditions and Vatican duties during hospitalization.

Pope Francis’s battle with double pneumonia is the most serious health complication the pontiff has suffered from since taking the Chair of St. Peter in 2013.

There has long been a Vatican taboo against openly talking about a conclave when a pope is sick: It’s considered gauche to speculate about the election of a new pope while the current one is fighting for his life.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis was up and receiving therapy on Monday after apparently overcoming a setback in his recovery from pneumonia. The Vatican said he is stable, off mechanical ventilation and is showing no sign of new infection following a respiratory crisis late last week.

The Vatican said the 88-year-old pope once again slept well during the night at Rome’s Gemelli hospital and was resting Thursday morning.