The Vatican’s early Friday update also suggested a level of normalcy and routine as the 88-year-old pope continues recovering at Rome's Gemelli Hospital.

The Vatican reported Friday that he experienced sudden breathing problems that required “non-invasive mechanical ventilation” but that he remained “alert.”

The Vatican, though, made alternative plans for Ash Wednesday next week, making clear Francis still had a long road ahead. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, a Vatican official and former vicar of Rome, will preside over the March 5 ceremony and procession that inaugurates the church's solemn Lenten season leading up to Easter in April.

Pope Francis ‘inhaled vomit’ after suffering a bronchial spasm in a major setback in his two-week battle against pneumonia, the Vatican has said. The development marked a reversal in what had been two successive days of increasingly upbeat reports from doctors treating Francis at Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14.

Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, suffered a breathing “crisis” on Friday which caused him to vomit but he was given air and responded well, the Vatican said. The episode came just hours after a Vatican source said the 88-year-old pontiff’s condition was no longer considered critical,

VATICAN CITY >> Pope Francis had an “isolated breathing crisis” in hospital today, the Vatican said, in a setback as the 88-year-old pontiff battles double pneumonia.