Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square early Tuesday morning to pray for ailing Pope Francis, expressing hope he can stay strong and recover from his current illness.

As Breitbart News reported, the 88-year-old Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and remains in critical condition despite showing a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital.

The Vatican said Tuesday he had “slept well, all night.” AP reports the faithful are visible in their support as they pray for him in a non-stop vigil:

As Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s No. 2, led prayers for 45 minutes on a chilly, rainy night Monday, the faithful fingered rosary beads while hoping for Francis’ recovery. The Vatican issued a dose of optimism earlier in the evening, delivering a more upbeat health bulletin than in recent days.

Still, the mood was mostly grim in the monumental square, with many of the roughly 4,000 assembled understanding they may be in Rome for Francis’ final days. Crowds sat under umbrellas on folding chairs or stood by the vast colonnades as they reflected fondly on the pontiff’s legacy.

The Argentine pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been hospitalized at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14.

AP reports in New York on Sunday, Cardinal Timothy Dolan acknowledged what church leaders in Rome weren’t saying publicly: that the Catholic faithful were united “at the bedside of a dying father.”

“As our Holy Father Pope Francis is in very, very fragile health, and probably close to death,” Dolan said in his homily from the pulpit of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, though he later told reporters he hoped and prayed that Francis would “bounce back.”

Priests attend a rosary prayer for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, on February 24, 2025. The Pontiff, who is hospitalized at the Policlinico Gemelli hospital in Rome since last February 2025, remains in critical health condition. (Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Doctors have said Francis’ condition remains touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease.

His condition has revived speculation about what might happen if he becomes unconscious or otherwise incapacitated, and whether he might resign.