Before he was hospitalized for double pneumonia, Pope Francis was battling firm resistance from some of his own cardinals about how to plug a widening gap in the Vatican's finances. Three days before his hospitalization,

Pope Francis’s condition showed “a further, slight improvement”, the Vatican said Wednesday, while continuing to maintain the prognosis for the 88-year-old fighting pneumonia in both lungs was “reserved”.

Pope Francis continued oxygen therapy Wednesday from his armchair on the 10th floor of the Agostino Gemelli Hospital in Rome, according to the Holy See Press Office.