Square Rome: The Vatican on Monday announced the start of nighttime prayers for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter's Square, and invited Romans and others to join in, as the 88-year-old pontiff battled a complex lung infection and complications.

The Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, is to lead the first prayer on Monday evening. The announcement immediately brought to mind the nighttime candlelit vigils in the piazza that preceded the 2005 death of St John Paul II.

Francis, who has double pneumonia and the early stages of kidney insufficiency, was awake and in good spirits Monday. He is not in pain and is not receiving artificial nutrition, the Vatican said.

"The night passed well, the pope slept and is resting," it said. A medical bulletin was expected later in the day.

At the Gemelli hospital, where Francis has been since Feb 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened, Bishop Claudio GiulioDori presided over an emotional, standing-room-only Mass in the chapel named for John Paul; Some of the estimated 200 people who attended were in white doctor's coats or green surgical scrubs; some knelt in prayer.

"We are very sorry. Pope Francis is a good pope, let's hope that he makes it. Let us hope," said a choked-up Filomena Ferraro, who was visiting a relative at Gemelli on Monday. "We are joining him with our prayers but what else can we do?" Late Sunday, doctors reported that Francis remained in critical condition but that he hadn't experienced any further respiratory crises since Saturday. Blood tests showed "early, slight kidney insufficiency" that was nevertheless under control.

Francis was receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen and, on Sunday, was alert, responsive and attended Mass. Doctors said his prognosis was guarded.

Doctors have said Francis' condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease. They have warned that the main threat facing Francis is sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.

To date there has been no reference to any onset of sepsis in the medical updates provided by the Vatican.

At 10 days, this hospitalisation now stands as Francis' longest as pope. He spent 10 days at Rome's Gemelli hospital in 2021 after he had 33 cm (13 inches) of his colon removed.

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".

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