Pope Francis, who suffered two respiratory crises on Monday as he battles double pneumonia, has stabilised and no longer needs to use mechanical ventilation for help breathing, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Francis is being treated with supplemental oxygen to assist him with breathing, the Vatican said Tuesday, a day after he suffered two episodes of acute respiratory failure.

Pope Francis suffered two new acute respiratory crises Monday and was put back on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, in another setback to his battle to fight pneumonia, the Vatican said. Doctors extracted “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs during two bronchoscopies,