Time-honored rituals, drafted and refined over centuries, allow time for mourning and provide order at a dramatic moment of transition.

Pope Francis was hospitalized on Feb. 14 after suffering a bout of bronchitis for weeks and after increasingly finding it hard to speak publicly.

Pope Francis is showing a "good response" to his treatment in hospital for double pneumonia and his overall condition is gradually improving, the Vatican said on Saturday. Francis, 88, has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital for more than three weeks with a severe respiratory infection that has required continuously evolving treatment.