VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, is not out of danger and will have to stay at least another week, his doctors said on Friday amid questions over the 88-year-old´s future as head of the Catholic Church.

Francis, who was admitted last Friday with breathing difficulties, has been slightly improving, allowing doctors to incrementally lower the amount of medication he is taking, Professor Sergio Alfieri said.

“The question is, is the pope out of danger? No, the pope is not out of danger,” Alfieri told a press conference at Rome´s Gemelli hospital. “If you then ask whether he is in danger of dying at this moment, the answer is still no,” he added. What began as bronchitis developed into double pneumonia, causing widespread alarm, and fuelling speculation over Francis´s ability to continue as head of the world´s almost 1.4 billion Catholics.

Doctor Luigi Carbone said the pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, now has a chronic lung condition and “is by definition a fragile patient”.

Francis, who is staying in a special papal suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli, has been moving between his bed, a chair and an adjacent chapel where he prays. He will remain in hospital “at least for all next week”, Alfieri said. “If we send him to Santa Marta (his home at the Vatican), he´ll start working again as before.