Pope Francis has shown a "further, slight improvement" in his medical condition, the Vatican said on Wednesday, in a sign of progress as the 88-year-old pontiff battles double pneumonia. The pope is spending his 13th night at Rome's Gemelli hospital,

The Catholic world was thrown into uncertainty earlier this month when Pope Francis was taken to hospital with a respiratory tract infection. Over the following days, the 88-year-old pontiff’s infection spiralled into pneumonia in both lungs and kidney failure.

The slight renal insufficiency the pope had in recent days subsided and a CAT scan of the chest showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary inflammatory picture.