A statue of late Pope John Paul II stands outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is receiving medical treatment Outside the Gemelli Hospital in Rome stands a large statue of one of its most famous patients,

A view shows the statue of late Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is admitted to continue treatment for his ongoing respiratory tract infection, in Rome, Italy, February 19,

Candles are left at the foot of a marble monument of late Pope John Paul II outside Rome's Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic where Pope Francis is being treated for pneumonia, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Nuns pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic,

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

ROME and LONDON -- Pope Francis was "resting" on Monday morning after spending his 10th night in the hospital, the Vatican press office said. "The night passed well, the Pope slept and is resting," the office said in a short statement.

The pope was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 after experiencing difficulty breathing for several days and subsequently had pneumonia diagnosed in both lungs.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis for 20 minutes in the hospital Wednesday and reported he was “alert and responsive” and full of good humor, despite his diagnosis of pneumonia and a complicated bronchial infection that has sidelined the 88-year-old pontiff for six days.

Saint John Paul II and the Shroud of Turin ... During a visit to the shroud in 1998 in Turin, Italy, Pope John Paull II said: “The shroud does not hold people’s hearts to itself but turns them to him, at whose service the Father’s loving providence ...

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 chaplain of the Agostino Gemelli Hospital, where Pope Francis remains hospitalized, has called for faith and prayer, urging Catholics to embrace "hope against all hope" as concerns over the pontiff's health persist.

Pope Francis has come down with a serious illness that could potentially force him to resign, but who would succeed him?