Pope Francis has written and spoken at length about sickness, aging and death. And he has personally directed that his doctors provide the fairly detailed daily updates that have punctuated his own battle with pneumonia.

For more than a week now, the Vatican's daily updates have trended in an incrementally positive direction, lifting the 88-year-old pontiff's prognosis.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is showing a "good response" to his hospital treatment for double pneumonia and his overall condition is gradually improving, the Vatican said on Saturday. Francis, 88, has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital for more than three weeks with a severe respiratory infection that has required continuously evolving treatment.