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

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is showing a "good response" to his hospital treatment for double pneumonia and his overall condition is gradually improving, the Vatican said on Saturday. Francis, 88, has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital for more than three weeks with a severe respiratory infection that has required continuously evolving treatment.

Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, is showing slight signs of improvement but it is too early to discuss his return home, a Vatican source said on Monday (Mar 10). The 88-year-old leader of the