Pope Francis will be well enough to greet crowds from his hospital window in Rome and give a blessing as he continues to recover from double pneumonia, said the Vatican.

The 88-year-old pontiff has been reducing his reliance on high-flow supplemental oxygen during the day, the Vatican said in the latest of regular medical bulletins given out this week. His pneumonia infection, while not completely eliminated, is under control as he continues in hospital, the Holy See press office said.

Francis concelebrated Mass on Wednesday, which is an important feast day for the Catholic Church and is the anniversary of his installation as pope 12 years ago.

And now in an update the Vatican has said he will appear at his window at Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Sunday. It stated: “Pope Francis intends to appear at his window tomorrow at Rome’s Gemelli hospital shortly after 12noon for a greeting and to impart his blessing. The text of Pope’s Angelus reflection will be distributed as on previous Sundays.”

Francis has been at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14 for a complex lung infection that turned into pneumonia in both lungs. He has been receiving respiratory and physical therapy to help strengthen his lungs.

He is no longer needing to use the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask, which pumps oxygen into his lungs, and doctors said its use had been “suspended.”

Francis was put on the ventilation mask after he suffered a spate of respiratory crises in late February and early March during which he was unable to expel the mucus and fluid that had accumulated in his lungs.

Suspending use of the mask means Francis’ lungs are working harder and better on their own. The Vatican is also again reducing its medical updates as Francis slowly continues his recovery, with the next one not expected before Monday.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella commemorated the 12th anniversary of Francis’ installation as pope by sending him a letter praising his initiatives as pope. Mattarella offered best wishes for the continuation of his pontificate and “all the more heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery”.

Over 12 years, Francis has sought that kind of normality for the papacy with his informal style and disdain for pomp while ensuring that he still wields the awesome power held by Christ’s vicar on Earth and Europe’s last absolute monarch.

The way Francis has managed his five-week hospitalization for pneumonia has followed that same playbook: He has allowed the public to follow the very normal ups and downs of an 88-year-old man battling a complex lung infection through spare but regular medical bulletins, while also continuing to run the 1.3-billion strong Catholic Church.

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Liam Payne’s young son Bear is heartbreakingly marking his first birthday without his famous dad. The One Direction singer tragically died in October last year aged 31 after a fatal fall from a hotel balcony.

The singer fell from the third floor of his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his death rocking the showbiz world. His ex Cheryl Tweedy, the mother of their son Bear, paid a devastating tribute to Liam as she described his death as an “earth shattering event”.

In a tribute, Cheryl said: “Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7 year old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.” The former X Factor judge also posted a sweet unseen photo of Liam with their son.

Bear was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London on March 22, 2017. Announcing the birth of his only son at the time on Instagram, Liam wrote: “My close friends and family know there are very few times when I’m left speechless… wow!”, as he basked in his new fatherhood.

While Liam and Cheryl broke up shortly after Bear’s first birthday, the pair continued co-parenting and even though the singer wasn’t with his son constantly, he always made sure he was provided for.

In 2019, he helped Cheryl pay for a home in a Buckinghamshire village where the Girls Aloud star raised Bear alongside her mum Joan. Liam later bought himself a property nearby so he could remain close to the pair.

Despite their huge fame, Liam and Cheryl made the decision to try to keep their son out of the spotlight and only posted glimpses of him on social media occasionally. Sharing an insight into their different parenting styles, Cheryl said she was “the strict one” while Liam was “much softer” than her.

Back in 2020, Cheryl shared the first video of Bear talking, revealing he had developed a strong Geordie accent after spending his early years alongside the native Newcastle star and her mum.

In the clip, the boy, who was three at the time, asked his mum to visit their local park sounding just like northerner Cheryl. As Bear grew older, Cheryl revealed he was taking after his parents in more ways – as she gushed about his talent for singing and performing.

In a rare photo of Bear shared by his mum last year, the child was pictured on stage with her during a soundcheck for the Girls Aloud tour in May. The photo shows Cheryl holding Bear’s hand while preparing for her band’s concert at Sheffield Arena.

In March, Liam posted a photo of Bear, taken from the back, showing his son looking at a billboard with his dad on it. Liam captioned the image: “I want to be on a billboard one day daddy.” Fans were shocked to see how grown up Bear was in the photo, sporting thick brown hair like his mum.

Speaking in 2023, Cheryl said Bear was just realising that his parents were famous after her steps to try and remove him from the media limelight and to have a ‘normal’ childhood instead.

The mum admitted she was worried about people recognising her son on the street. The singer said: “The problem is that I want Bear to have a normal childhood. I don’t want people recognising him on the street. But he’s twigged that I’m famous. The other day he said ‘How lucky am I to have famous parents?’ I said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He goes: ‘Yeah. But it’s pretty cool’.”

In a heartbreaking video shared as he celebrated his 31st birthday in August this year, Liam said he was excited to spend some time with Bear, describing his son as his “mini me”. Liam said: “I didn’t get any dad socks yet thought. I’m going to speak to my son in a little bit which I’m really excited about. Bless him. He’s getting so big now. He’s a big boy and he looks like a mini me. As if we needed any more me in the world.”

In his tribute to Liam, Simon Cowell told fans how much Bear looked like his daddy. Simon shared a close bond with Liam beginning on the X Factor and charting his rise to global fame as a member of One Direction.

“I have met your son Bear. He has your smile and that twinkle in your eyes you have,” wrote Simon. “He will be so proud of everything you achieved. And how you achieved it,” he added.

After his dad’s tragic death, the child stands to inherit his fortune, estimated to be £46million. According to some of Liam’s friends, the 1D star had made arrangements “some years ago” to ensure his money would go to his only child in the event of his death.

Despite being often thousands of miles apart as the singer spent a lot of time in America, he kept in touch with bear via video calls on FaceTime. An insider told The Daily Mail: “Liam had some very sensible people around him for a time and he adored Bear so much. He always wanted to do the right thing by him financially. It is a small consolation that Bear will never want for anything, that he will at least benefit from that.”

Another friend of Liam said: “It’s tragic that they never had a proper father and son bond. Liam was there, a lost soul, on his own, thousands of miles away from home – it is awful. He would always call Bear; they would speak to each other a lot and Liam would see him as much as he could.”

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