Pope Francis, who is in critical condition in hospital battling double pneumonia, rested well throughout the night, the Vatican said on Tuesday. The 88-year-old pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a serious respiratory illness that has since triggered other health problems.

Time-honored rituals, drafted and refined over centuries, allow time for mourning and provide order at a dramatic moment of transition.

Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square on a chilly, rainy evening to pray for an ailing Pope Francis.