The Vatican said the doctors had lifted their previous "guarded" prognosis, determining he no longer was in imminent danger as a result of the original respiratory infection. In a sign of his improved health,

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is participating in the Vatican’s weeklong spiritual retreat from a Rome hospital as he continued his recovery on Monday from double pneumonia and looks ahead to the 12th anniversary of his election amid questions about what the future of his papacy might look like.

As Pope Francis has battled double pneumonia in hospital for nearly three weeks, talk of the 88-year-old pontiff's death or resignation has become almost commonplace. A few senior Catholic cardinals are talking openly about the possibility that Francis could follow his predecessor Benedict XVI and resign.