Pope Francis reached the two-week mark recovery from pneumonia Friday as doctors suggested he had overcome the most critical phase of the infection while holding out on declaring him out of danger entirely.

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

Despite his hospitalization, the pope has maintained a degree of governance and authorized the appointment of four new bishops.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has continued making decisions and is improving, but his two-week hospital stay poses uncomfortable, unanswered questions about Vatican decision-making.

Hospitalized in critical condition with double pneumonia, Pope Francis was well enough to meet with the Vatican secretary of state to approve new decrees for possible saints and make some major governing decisions.