ROME (AP) — Pope Francis was in stable condition Tuesday and breathing with just the help of supplemental oxygen after respiratory crises a day earlier, but will resume using a ventilation mask at night, the Vatican said.

In its late update, the Vatican said Francis had no further respiratory episodes during a day spent praying, resting and undergoing respiratory physiotherapy to try to help him fight double pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, had two respiratory crises on Monday in a setback to his recovery.

Doctors extracted “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs. They put him on a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe and he slept with it through the night, but was stable enough on Tuesday morning to use just high flows of supplemental oxygen delivered by a nasal tube.

Doctors planned to resume using the mask while he sleeps Tuesday night, so that oxygen is pumped into his lungs via a mask that covers his nose and mouth.

Doctors said his clinical condition was stable and that his prognosis remained guarded, meaning he is not out of danger.

Francis’ medical team has not provided an in-person update on his condition since Feb. 21, a sign of the up-and-down nature of his hospitalization, which began on Feb. 14 and is the longest of his 12-year papacy.

On Tuesday, a group of Argentines from the country’s embassies in Rome brought a statue of Our Lady of Lujan to the Gemelli hospital to pray for Francis. The Argentine pope is particularly devoted to the blue veiled Lujan Madonna, which has been revered in Argentina since the 17th century.

“I am very happy to be now close to him,” said the Rev. Fernando Laguna, parish priest of the Argentine church in Rome. “I would like to hug him, but it’s not possible, but he told us that a prayer is like a hug So I am happy despite the pain.”

Francis’ treatment comes as the Vatican prepares for Lent, the solemn period leading up to Easter on April 20. As it is, a cardinal has been designated to take Francis’ place this week on Ash Wednesday, which opens Lent with a traditional service and procession in Rome. The pope was also supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this coming weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy.

On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in “spiritual communion” with him. The theme, selected weeks ago and well before Francis got sick, was “Hope in eternal life.”

Francis, who is not physically active, uses a wheelchair and is overweight, had been undergoing respiratory physiotherapy to try to improve his lung function. The accumulation of secretions in his lungs was a sign that he doesn’t have the muscle tone to cough vigorously enough to expel the fluid.

Doctors often use noninvasive ventilation to stave off intubation or the use of more invasive mechanical ventilation. Francis has not been intubated during this hospitalization. It’s not clear if he has provided any instructions on the limits of his care if he declines seriously or loses consciousness.

Catholic teaching holds that life must be defended from conception until natural death. It insists that chronically ill patients, including those in vegetative states, must receive “ordinary” care such as hydration and nutrition, but “extraordinary” or disproportionate care can be suspended if it is no longer beneficial or is only prolonging a precarious and painful life.

Francis articulated that in a 2017 speech to a meeting of the Vatican’s bioethics think tank, the Pontifical Academy for Life. He said there was “no obligation to have recourse in all circumstances to every possible remedy.” He added: “It thus makes possible a decision that is morally qualified as withdrawal of ‘overzealous treatment.’”

Paolo Santalucia contributed.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis suffered an isolated coughing fit on Friday that resulted in him inhaling vomit, requiring non-invasive mechanical ventilation, the Vatican said in relaying a setback in his two-week long battle against double pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pope remained conscious and alert at all times and cooperated with the maneuvers to help him recover. He responded well, with a good level of oxygen exchange and was continuing to wear a mask to receive supplemental oxygen, the Vatican said.

The development marked a setback in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since Feb. 14.

The episode, which occurred in the early afternoon, resulted in a “sudden worsening of the respiratory picture.” Doctors decided to keep Francis’ prognosis as guarded and indicated they needed 24-48 hours to evaluate how and if the episode has impacted his overall clinical condition.

The episode, which doctors described as an “isolated crisis of bronchial spasm” was a coughing fit in which Francis inhaled vomit. The longer respiratory crisis Francis suffered on Feb. 22 was a crisis in actually breathing, the Vatican said.

Doctors did not resume referring to Francis in “critical condition,” which has been absent from their statements for three days now. But they have been cautious in declaring him out of danger entirely, given the complexity of his case.

The Vatican has already made alternative plans for Ash Wednesday next week, making clear Francis still had a long road ahead. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, a Vatican official and former vicar of Rome, will preside over the March 5 ceremony and procession that inaugurates the church’s solemn Lenten season leading up to Easter in April.

Earlier Friday, Francis had spent the morning alternating high flows of supplemental oxygen with a mask and praying in the chapel. He had breakfast, read the day’s newspapers and was receiving respiratory physiotherapy, the Vatican said.

The Vatican also published a document signed by Francis on Feb. 26 “From the Gemelli Polyclinic,” a new tagline that showed Francis was still working from the hospital.

In Mexico City, a few dozen people gathered Thursday night at the cathedral to pray for Francis’ recovery.

“He is like part of the family,” said Araceli Gutiérrez, who treasures the time she saw the pope during his trip to the country of nearly 100 million Catholics in 2016. “That’s why we feel so concerned for him.”

María Teresa Sánchez, who was visiting from Colombia with her sister, said that she has always felt close to Francis — the first Latin American pope.

“That’s like having a relative within the higher-ups, with God,” she said. “He has done so much for religion; he’s such a humble person.”

Given his continued hospitalization, Francis’ near-term upcoming calendar of events was being changed: The Vatican canceled a Holy Year audience scheduled for Saturday, and it remained to be seen if Francis would skip his Sunday noon blessing for the third week in a row. With Ash Wednesday now delegated to a cardinal, the next major events come during Holy Week and Easter, which this year falls on April 20.

In past years, when Francis has battled bronchitis and influenza in winter, he curbed his participation in Ash Wednesday and Holy Week events, which call for the pope to be outdoors in the cold leading services, participating in processions and presiding over prayers in the solemn period in which the faithful commemorate Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.

Beyond that, Francis has a few major events coming up that he presumably would hope to keep if well enough. On April 27, he is due to canonize Carlo Acutis, considered to be the first millennial and digital-era saint. The Vatican considers the Italian teenager, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, an inspiration for young Catholics.

Another important appointment is the May 24 commemoration of the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea, Christianity’s first ecumenical council. The spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, Patriarch Bartholomew I, has invited Francis to join him in Iznik, Turkey, to commemorate the anniversary, which he has called an important sign of reconciliation between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Before he got sick, Francis said he hoped to go, though the Vatican hasn’t confirmed the trip.

Maria Hernandez contributed from Mexico City.

ROME (AP) — Lazio has fired the man who handled the Italian soccer club’s eagle mascot after he posted photos and videos online of his own prosthetic penis.

Falconer Juan Bernabé shared the images on his private social media accounts after undergoing surgery for a penile implant, which he said was for non-medical reasons.

Bernabé also gave an interview to controversial Italian radio show La Zanzara on Monday and elaborated on his reasons for undergoing the procedure.

Bernabé added that he felt “very proud” and “more masculine” being part of Lazio. The Serie A club clearly did not feel the same as it fired the Spaniard shortly afterward.

“Shocked to see the photographic images and video of Mr. Juan Bernabè and to read the statements that accompanied them, Lazio announces that it has stopped, with immediate effect, all relationship with this person, given the seriousness of his behavior,” the capital club said in a statement.

“The club realizes — and shares — the pain that the fans will feel at the loss of the eagle in the next home games, but believes that it is not possible to be associated … with a person who, by his own initiative, has made the continuation of the relationship unacceptable.”

The eagle — a bird that symbolizes ancient Rome — traditionally flies over Stadio Olimpico before home games.

Bernabè said he had no regrets about sharing the images.

Lazio suspended Bernabè in 2021 when he was filmed performing a fascist salute at the end of a match and chanting “Duce, Duce,” which was the name used to praise former fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini.

“I admire him so much,” Bernabè added in Monday’s radio interview.