The Vatican reported Friday that he experienced sudden breathing problems that required “non-invasive mechanical ventilation” but that he remained “alert.”

Time-honored rituals, drafted and refined over centuries, allow time for mourning and provide order at a dramatic moment of transition.

Pope Francis, who has been hospitalised for two weeks battling double pneumonia, has spent another peaceful night and is now resting, the Vatican said on Friday. Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 with what was originally described as a bronchitis and was later revealed to have developed into something more serious.