POPE FRANCIS IS resting after a “peaceful” night, said the Vatican this morning after reporting earlier that the pontiff was showing a “slight, gradual improvement”.

Francis, head of the worldwide Catholic Church since 2013, has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since 14 February.

He was admitted with bronchitis, which then developed into pneumonia in both lungs, something that sparked alarm because he had part of a lung removed as a young man.

In an update this morning, the Vatican said Francis was “resting” after a “peaceful” night.

But in a more in-depth update yesterday evening, the Vatican said that Francis’s “clinical condition has remained stable in recent days” and that he has “shown a good response to therapy”.

“There is therefore a slight, gradual improvement,” said yesterday’s statement.

He has also remained without fever and his blood tests are stable, and the Vatican said that Francis is “following the prescribed diet, which now includes solid foods”.

He has also continued respiratory and physical therapy.

“The doctors, in order to record these initial improvements in the coming days, cautiously continue to maintain a reserved prognosis,” added the Vatican.

Meanwhile, Francis received the Eucharist yesterday morning, prayed in the chapel of his private apartment at the Gemelli hospital, and “alternated rest and work activities” yesterday afternoon.

Francis has continued to work from the hospital and last week, he called Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family in Gaza, the only Catholic parish in Gaza.

The Gaza parish thanked Francis for his support from the hospital.

Since October 9, 2023, two days after the bombings began in Gaza, Francis has been in daily contact with the Holy Family Church, bar a few days recently due to his hospitalisation.

And while Francis has published several texts from hospital, his voice was heard for the first time since his hospitalisation last week.

Before a nightly rosary in St Peter’s Square on Thursday for Francis’s health, a pre-recorded audio message was played from Francis.

His voice was gravelly, and he said: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square, I accompany you from here.

“May God bless you. Thank you.”