The combination of health issues has kept the Pope from performing his public duties, including weekly prayers on Sundays, but his doctors have recently said he is alert, joking, and continuing to work, as well as reading messages from well-wishers around the world.

The pope has suffered from pneumonia in both lungs and experienced a “long asthmatic respiratory crisis” over the weekend.

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.