VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis's condition is improving and doctors no longer fear for his life, the Vatican said, indicating the 88-year-old could even leave hospital within days.
The leader of the world's Catholics was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 with bronchitis, which became pneumonia in both lungs.
The Argentine suffered a series of breathing crises that sparked worldwide concern for his life, most recently on March 3.
But after a week of steady improvements, the Holy See said on Monday evening that his prognosis was no longer considered "reserved", or uncertain.
"The clinical conditions of the Holy Father continue to be stable," it said in a statement.
"The improvements recorded in the previous days have been further consolidated, as confirmed by blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy.
"For these reasons, the doctors have decided today to lift their reserved prognosis."
It added that "given the complexity of the pope’s clinical picture and the severe infection present at the time of hospitalisation, it will still be necessary to continue pharmacological treatment in a hospital setting for several more days".
This suggests that once this therapy is completed, he should return home.
Francis spent Monday doing physical and respiratory therapy in his 10th-floor suite in the Gemelli hospital, the Vatican said.
As on previous mornings, he also switched from the oxygen mask he uses nightly to a cannula -- a plastic tube tucking into the nostrils -- which delivers high-flow oxygen, it said.
The leader of the world's nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has been working on and off, and following the news where possible -- including deadly floods that have hit his homeland of Argentina.
Francis "is close to the people of the Bahia Blanca area in thought and prayer", the Vatican said Monday, referring to the port city where 16 people have died.