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 has suffered two episodes of acute respiratory failure while battling pneumonia in a hospital in Rome. The 88-year-old leader of the Catholic church has been placed back on mechanical ventilation,

The Vatican said as of Tuesday morning, Francis no longer needed to wear the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask that covers his nose and mouth to pump oxygen into his lungs and was just receiving supplemental oxygen through a nasal tube. » READ MORE: The Vatican said the pope has pneumonia in both lungs. How worrying is that?