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

Pope Francis is still critically ill as he battles double pneumonia, but his condition has shown a "slight improvement", the Vatican said on Monday.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni visited Pope Francis for 20 minutes in the hospital Wednesday and reported he was “alert and responsive” and full of good humor, despite his diagnosis of pneumonia and a complicated bronchial infection that has sidelined the 88-year-old pontiff for six days.