Volkswacht Bodensee - Hospitalised Pope had peaceful night, up, eating, working: Vatican

The 88-year-old was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital last Friday with bronchitis, but it later developed into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking widespread alarm.

Vatican sources said, however, that despite his illness the Argentine pope was still trying to work, reading and signing documents, writing, speaking with his collaborators and keeping up with the news.

In a Wednesday evening update, the Vatican said the pope's blood tests had shown a "slight improvement" and his clinical conditions were stable.

He had enough energy to receive Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for a 20-minute visit.

The far-right leader said in a statement afterwards she found him "alert and responsive".

"We joked as always. He hasn't lost his proverbial sense of humour," she said.

The pope has already cancelled his appointments on his calendar this week, including a Saturday audience and Sunday mass at St Peter's Basilica.

But it was still unknown whether the pope would give the traditional Angelus prayer at midday following mass, which will be presided over by a cardinal in Francis's absence.

"We still don't know how it will work," said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni on Thursday.

The double pneumonia diagnosis comes after the pope has suffered a series of issues in recent years, from colon and hernia surgery to problems walking and pain in his hip and knee.

The Vatican has been issuing regular updates, however banal, in a bid to counter widespread speculation -- particularly online -- that he is dying or even dead.

Wednesday evening's statement pointed to a modest change for the better.

"The blood tests, evaluated by the medical staff, show a slight improvement, particularly in inflammatory indices," read the statement.

Following breakfast, Francis "dedicated himself to work activities with his closest collaborators", it added.

A Vatican source had on Wednesday said the pope was "breathing on his own. His heart is holding up very well".

- 'Confident he'll make it' -

The pope, who has been head of the Catholic Church since 2013, keeps a full schedule despite his age and ailments, and this year is busy with celebrations of the holy Jubilee year.

But he had struggled to read his homilies in the days before his hospital admission.

The pontiff -- whose birth name is Jorge Bergoglio -- had part of his right lung cut away when he was 21, after developing pleurisy that almost killed him.

Francis missed last Sunday's Angelus prayer, instead sending a written text, but during previous spells in hospital he has delivered it from the balcony of the Gemelli, which has a special papal suite.

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, called on all parishes in the Italian capital to pray for the pope's recovery on Wednesday.

Candles, some with pictures of the pope on them, have been set at the bottom of a statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital.

In St Peter's Square on Thursday, Romanian tourist Suzanna Munteanu told AFP she worried over Francis's health but was "confident that he will make it".

"I love this pope... Pope Bergoglio, very much, and he's very dear to me, especially that he cares for the poor people, and I do hope he will recover very soon," she said.

The pope has left open the option of resigning were he to become unable to carry out his duties, as did his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

But in a memoir last year Francis said it was just a "distant possibility" that would be justified only in the event of "a serious physical impediment".

R.Braegger--VB