The Vatican has been providing twice daily updates on the pope’s health, a morning one on how the night went, and an evening medical bulletin.
But on Thursday it said that “in view of the stability of the clinical picture, the next medical bulletin will be released on Saturday”.
Nonetheless, “the doctors are still maintaining a reserved prognosis”, it said, meaning they will not say how they expect his condition to evolve.
For the last three nights Francis – who had part of a lung removed as a young man – has worn an oxygen mask to help him sleep.
On Thursday morning, as on the previous day, he switched to a less onerous nasal cannula – a plastic tube tucking into his nostrils – which provides high-flow oxygen, a Vatican source said.
Francis missed the formal Ash Wednesday celebrations in Rome marking the start of Lent but took part in a blessing in his private suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli.
The leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics has not been seen in public since his hospitalisation – the longest of his papacy.
Nor has the Vatican issued any photos, although Francis has published several texts.
