The combination of health issues has kept the Pope from performing his public duties, including weekly prayers on Sundays, but his doctors have recently said he is alert, joking, and continuing to work, as well as reading messages from well-wishers around the world.

The pope has suffered from pneumonia in both lungs and experienced a “long asthmatic respiratory crisis” over the weekend.

The Vatican says Pope Francis remains in critical condition and blood tests show early kidney failure but he remains alert and “well-oriented.”