Rome, 22 February 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Pope Francis has spent his eighth night in hospital without further complications after falling ill with pneumonia, the Vatican said on Saturday morning.

"Pope Francis had a restful night," the Holy See said in a statement posted on its Vatican News website.

The 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church has been receiving treatment at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome for a week.

Doctors spoke to media for the first time about the pontiff's condition on Friday evening. They said Francis is not yet out of danger but his condition is not currently life-threatening.

His medical team emphasized that the pope is not attached to a ventilator, although he is still struggling with his breathing and consequently keeping his physical movements limited.

Nevertheless, the pope was sitting upright in a chair, working and joking as usual, the doctors said.

The pope's clinical picture remains complex. Among other things, Francis is suffering from pneumonia that affects both lungs. 

The team led by Sergio Alfieri from the Gemelli Hospital and Luigi Carbone, Francis' personal physician, assume that Francis will have to remain in hospital for at least the next week.

However, they did not give any more precise details, as possible complications are unforeseeable, according to the doctors.

Complications must be prevented at all costs, they stressed.