Pope 'stable' after 'calm night': Vatican

Pope Francis, who has been in hospital for more than two weeks with double pneumonia, is in a "stable" condition after spending a "calm night", the Vatican said on Sunday.

"The pope is still resting," the Holy See said in its latest health update on the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church.

On Saturday evening, it said the pope was still receiving oxygen, but had no fever, had been eating, was alert and praying.

His haemodynamic parameters -- those relating to the flow of blood -- were also stable, and he did not have the high white-blood-cell count that often indicates an infection, the Vatican said, adding that the prognosis, as in previous days, remained "reserved".

Francis, leader of the world's almost 1.4 billion Catholics, was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 with bronchitis that soon developed into pneumonia in both lungs.

Last weekend, the Vatican reported he was in a "critical" condition, suffering a major respiratory attack and requiring blood transfusions, prompting widespread concern.

After a series of incremental improvements, there was more alarming news on Friday when the Vatican said Francis "presented an isolated crisis of bronchospasm which led to an episode of vomiting with inhalation and a sudden worsening of the respiratory picture".

"It will take doctors 24 to 48 hours to evaluate the impact" of Friday's breathing crisis, a Vatican source said.

Andrea Ungar, professor of geriatrics at the University of Florence, told AFP on Saturday that it appeared vomit had entered the pope's lungs, which "aggravated the pneumonia".

Such an issue normally required a strengthening of antibiotics, ventilation and respiratory exercises, he said.

He also agreed that the first 24 to 48 hours after an incident were crucial, adding the pontiff would likely stay in hospital for some time -- "at least 10 days" in the most optimistic scenario.

Agence France-Presse