Pope Francis remained in critical condition Monday but showed slight improvement in laboratory tests and resumed some work, the Vatican said, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began.

Pope Francis remained in critical condition Monday but showed slight improvement in laboratory tests and resumed some work, the Vatican said, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began.

The Vatican says Pope Francis remains in critical condition but has showed slight improvement in laboratory tests. He has resumed some work activities, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began.

Even while Pope Francis is hospitalized, he still keeps in touch with a Roman Catholic parish in Gaza City, making near-nightly phone calls to the priest and congregation there.

Pope Francis spends “a peaceful night” at Rome‘s Gemelli Hospital and has breakfast while sitting in an armchair on Thursday morning, the Vatican tells journalists on Feb. 20.

Francis was also given blood transfusions, according to the Vatican, after blood tests revealed he was suffering from thrombocytopenia, meaning the platelet count in his blood was too low, a condition the doctors said is associated with anemia. Infections and medical treatment may lower platelet count.

Pope Francis showed improvement in his health, allowing him to resume some work activities, including reaching out to a Gaza City parish. Despite suffering from pneumonia, the Vatican's bulletin was optimistic,

Pope Francis, currently in critical condition with pneumonia, shows slight improvement. He resumed work, including contacting a parish in Gaza City. Despite his guarded prognosis, spirits remain high as nightly prayers occur in St.

Pope Francis, who has been hospitalized since last week, was found to have pneumonia in both lungs following a CT scan on Tuesday, the Vatican said, with tests continuing to indicate “a complex picture” for one of the oldest popes in the church’s history.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, will lead a public recitation of the rosary at 9 p.m. Feb. 24 in St. Peter’s Square.

The slight kidney insufficiency detected on Sunday was not causing current alarm, doctors said, but they were guarded on his prognosis.