Europe correspondent in Rome<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Catholics gathered to pray for the health of the Pope beneath the steps of St Peter’s Basilica for a third night, as his doctors said his condition showed further slight improvement.<\/p>\n Nuns dangling rosary beads, tourists and student priests were among those who joined the gentle incantation of the rosary in the Vatican.<\/p>\n They were led by a cardinal in a scarlet skull cap who prayed for Pope Francis to be able to resume his duties as soon as possible.<\/p>\n The nightly gatherings began on Monday after the 88-year-old’s health took a dramatic dip at the weekend. He was fighting to breathe and needed blood transfusions.<\/p>\n But the latest statements suggest the Pope is able to sit in his chair, is eating normally and even doing what the Vatican calls “light work”: reading and signing documents.<\/p>\n “It was a bit scary last weekend but a bit better now,” Stacey, a medical student from Paris, told the BBC.<\/p>\n She was attending the prayers for the Pope for a second time.<\/p>\n “Francis is very popular with young people because he’s really open, and in a world that became a little scary, he gives us a lot of hope.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Xiomara, from Panama, said she felt drawn to this Pope in particular as he was “a good man”.<\/p>\n “Prayers always help, they don’t just hang in the air,” she believes.<\/p>\n Leading the rosary from beneath a white canopy was Cardinal Battista Re.<\/p>\n He’s the figure in the Vatican who would call a conclave – the closed gathering of senior clergy that elects a Pope – if Francis were not able to continue in the role.<\/p>\n Despite the slight improvement, the Pope’s medical team are still giving no prognosis.<\/p>\n He was admitted to Gemelli hospital on 14 February with double-pneumonia and, according to the Vatican, a CT scan of his lungs shows a “normal evolution” which suggests he is responding to treatment.<\/p>\n We’re told he still uses additional oxygen but has suffered no further “respiratory crises”.<\/p>\n The tone of Vatican officials has certainly relaxed a little.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, the Pope’s condition was described as “stable”, which was new. By Wednesday evening there was a “further slight improvement” and the update omitted to say “critical” for the first time.<\/p>\n Vatican officials cautioned that didn’t mean the Pope was out of the woods.<\/p>\n But with so little to go on, those following his condition closely are wringing every word – or missing word – for meaning.<\/p>\n Inevitably, many have also been wondering about the future.<\/p>\n The Pope was frail even before this infection, so there has been speculation over whether he might resign.<\/p>\n The Quotidiano Nazionale newspaper calls it the “fluttering of crows” over St Peter’s, inevitable at the “sunset” of any Papacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It’s even louder this time since Benedict XVI set a precedent and stepped down in 2013, the first Pope to do so in six centuries.<\/p>\n Francis has said before that he would consider resigning if he can’t carry out his duties.<\/p>\n “His instinct will be to carry on as long as he can and is able to,” believes Austen Ivereigh, who co-authored a book with Pope Francis. <\/p>\n “He’s shown he doesn’t mind being a weak and frail Pope; he can be a Pope in a wheelchair, or one who gets ill regularly and that’s ok.”<\/p>\n All the same, if his health prognosis were too bad, the author said, “then the [resignation] issue might arise.”<\/p>\n Even with Francis confined to the Gemelli hospital, the well-oiled Vatican cogs continue to turn. The bureaucracy functions and the Pope has been signing some documents.<\/p>\n On Monday, his secretary of state and another senior official visited.<\/p>\n Officially, the Pope signed papers, moving a list of candidates further along the path towards sainthood.<\/p>\n But some question why they couldn’t wait, given the frailty of the Pope, and wonder what other plans were discussed at that meeting.<\/p>\n As Francis enters his 14th day in hospital, pilgrims to Rome are already experiencing life without him. His weekly audience, or meeting, with the faithful was cancelled for the second week.<\/p>\n “We really want him to get better and continue the amazing work he’s started,” said Mabi.<\/p>\n She mentions the foregrounding of women in the church in particular.<\/p>\n “He’s a people’s Pope and people want his work to continue.”<\/p>\n “We’re sorry, because we hoped to meet the Pope today at an audience \u2013 we had tickets,” Fr Cristiano said.<\/p>\n Around him almost 100 Catholics from northern Italy were gathering to begin processing up the street towards St Peter’s behind a large wooden crucifix.<\/p>\n “I’m not disappointed, I’m just worried for him,” the priest said. “Today the news is not so bad, but it’s not so good, either. So we need to pray.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Reuters](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/a7bf\/live\/18e5e1d0-f4c8-11ef-9c59-bfe78b9ccee3.png.webp\")
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![\"Stacey,](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/332e\/live\/c356d5b0-f4c4-11ef-af61-cb13acf91621.jpg.webp\")
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EPA<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n