Pope Francis, who suffered two respiratory crises on Monday as he battles double pneumonia, has stabilised and no longer needs to use mechanical ventilation for help breathing, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Pope Francis suffered two new acute respiratory crises Monday and was put back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, in another setback to his battle to fight pneumonia, the Vatican said. Doctors extracted “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs during two bronchoscopies,

Pope Francis 'slept well' after experiencing respiratory crises on Monday as the 88-year-old has faced numerous health setbacks.