Vatican shares major update on Pope Francis as he remains in critical condition

Rumours began circulating earlier this week that the Pontiff's funeral was being rehearsed.

On Sunday morning, the Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis had a peaceful night in Rome's Gemelli hospital where he is being treated for double pneumonia.

According to Vatican News, Pope Francis' most recent blood tests 'revealed thrombocytopenia, associated with anemia, which required the administration of blood transfusions'.

"The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, although he is more fatigued than yesterday," the report added. "At the moment, the prognosis remains guarded."

Earlier this week, it was reported that the 88-year-old's funeral was being rehearsed, as fears grew that he would not survive the battle with pneumonia. 

Pope Francis was taken to Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic last Friday after being diagnosed with bronchitis the week prior.

Last weekend, that diagnosis was updated to bilateral pneumonia, and all of the Pope's engagements at the Vatican were cancelled.

Swiss newspaper, Blick, claimed that the Swiss Guard began rehearsing his funeral, with members put under a curfew in preparation ‘for the pontiff’s death’.

At a press conference in Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday afternoon, Dr Sergio Alfieri - the head of the team taking care of the Pope - and Dr Luigi Carbone - the Vice-Director of the Vatican’s healthcare service - spoke for some forty minutes to a roomful of journalists.

The pair said that they believed the Pope would be hospitalised for "at least" the entirety of the next week, and that Pope Francis is not “in danger of death,” but he’s also not fully “out of danger.”

Perhaps cognizant of his limited time, the Pope has in recent weeks moved to ‘tie up loose ends’ and ensure the continuation of his legacy at a politically sensitive time for the Catholic Church.  

On 6 February, before he was hospitalised, he extended the term of the Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re as dean of the College of Cardinals – a role that will oversee some preparations for a potential conclave, the secretive gathering that determines the selection of a new pope.

The move, which controversially sidestepped a scheduled vote on the next dean by top cardinals, was intended to ensure that the process plays out according to Francis’s wishes.