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

With Pope Francis remaining in critical condition fighting a complex respiratory infection and bilateral pneumonia, the cardinals and curial officials in Rome have organized a rosary and special Mass for the pontiff.

The Vatican created a mini-residence on site, a top-floor apartment guarded by police. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Pope Francis remained in critical condition as the Vatican called senior church officials in Rome to a special saying of the rosary in St. Peter’s Square.

The Gemelli hospital has been treating popes for more than thirty years.

The Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will lead the first prayer Monday. Francis, who has double pneumonia and is in the early stages of kidney insufficiency, was awake and in good spirits Monday.

Rome's Gemelli hospital, where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, is the favoured choice of pontiffs — to the point of being dubbed "Vatican III" by John Paul II. The 88-year-old Francis is on his fourth stay at the Gemelli since 2021.