Pope Francis continues recovery in hospital: Vatican

Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of Catholics and head of state of the Vatican, is continuing his recovery after being hospitalized for more than a month for respiratory illnesses, the Vatican reported on Wednesday.

The Vatican shared the latest health report of the 88-year-old pope, who has been at Gemelli Hospital in Rome for 33 days with a diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia due to severe bronchitis he had in February.

The report showed his clinical condition improving, with motor and respiratory physiotherapy continuing to make progress.

Francis was unable to speak at two public events on Feb. 9 and 12, indicating that he had bronchitis and difficulty breathing. He asked aides to read the texts of his speeches.

On Feb. 14, the pope was admitted to Gemelli Hospital and was reported to have a polymicrobial infection in his respiratory tract.

The Vatican announced on Feb. 18 that the pope had developed bilateral pneumonia and his clinical condition was complicated.

He had an asthma attack on Feb. 22 and his condition was critical.

The pope suffered acute respiratory failure twice and non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed March 3.

However, he has been stable since March 4, and has begun to show signs of improvement.

On March 16, the Vatican shared a photo frame of Pope Francis praying in the chapel of his hospital room, which was the first photo frame shared since the Pope's hospitalization.