Pope Francis’ health is improving but he is still in critical condition, Vatican says

Pope Francis remains in a critical condition but has shown some improvement, the Vatican said on Monday afternoon, as worries persisted around the pontiff’s kidney and lung problems that have left him in the hospital for over a week.

“Doctors, in view of the complexity of the clinical picture, conservatively do not yet change the prognosis from being guarded,” the Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in an update.

Kidney problems that pope had suffered earlier were no longer a problem, and Francis had done some work during the day, according to the Bruni.

Earlier, a Vatican source told NBC News’ international partner, Sky News, that Francis was eating normally. Rome’s Gemelli Hospital said via Telegram morning that the night had “passed peacefully,” doctors gave no further update as to whether the pope’s health has improved.

Fears have been growing about the pontiff’s condition after he was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14, and then had breathing difficulties and was later diagnosed with “double pneumonia,” or pneumonia in both lungs and over the weekend suffered asthma-like symptoms.

During a service on Sunday at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Cardinal Timothy Dolan described Francis as being “in very, very fragile health and probably close to death,” but did not elaborate on how he knew that.

On Sunday, the Vatican said Francis, 88, remained in critical condition, with a previous update on Saturday having detailed his respiratory crisis. The Vatican had previously added that Francis had to be administered oxygen and required a blood transfusion after a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis.”

Beginning Monday, the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will lead nightly masses with the cardinals of Rome to pray for Francis in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.

“We are all very worried,” the pope’s cousin, 93-year-old Carla Rabezzana who lives in Portacomaro, Italy, told the Italian news agency Ansa. “We hope he recovers quickly and overcomes this difficult moment. I follow everything on the news, and I am very anxious.”