The pope’s doctors report that given that his “clinical condition continues to be stable” and “the improvements of recent days,” they have removed “the guarded prognosis” that they have retained throughout these past 25 days.

After preaching on the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor in Luke's Gospel, the Rev. Daniel Kingsley shares how preachers are called to convey hope: “Sometimes, it's hope that gives people the motivation to see tomorrow.”

Despite his confinement to his hospital room, where he is being treated for double pneumonia, Pope Francis delivered two important messages on Sunday.

Pope Francis' continued "gradual, slight improvement" is a sign that he is responding to the therapy he is receiving at Rome's Gemelli hospital, his doctors said.

Pope Francis had “a restful night and woke up shortly after 8 a.m.,” the Vatican said on Friday morning, March 7. It was his 22nd night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

Just as Popes John Paul II’s and Benedict’s final days revealed their understandings of the papacy, Francis’ illness has revealed him once again as the world’s parish priest, suffering close to his people.