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

Pope Francis, in critical condition battling double pneumonia, had a quiet night in hospital and is resting, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The 88-year-old pope is spending his 13th day at Rome's Gemelli hospital,

The slight renal insufficiency the pope had in recent days subsided and a CAT scan of the chest showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary inflammatory picture.