As Pope Francis has battled double pneumonia in hospital for nearly three weeks, talk of the 88-year-old pontiff's death or resignation has become almost commonplace.

Pope Francis had stabilized enough Tuesday after two respiratory crises to be taken off noninvasive mechanical ventilation and receive just high flows of supplemental oxygen, as he continued his more than two-week long fight against double pneumonia,

This was the pope's "third serious downturn" since he was admitted to Gemelli Polyclinic hospital with a complex respiratory infection on Feb. 14, the BBC said. The Vatican said laboratory tests suggested the mucus was a response to Francis' original pneumonia, not a new infection.