Pope Francis suffers setback with respiratory episodes

What happened

Pope Francis was back on "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" after two episodes of acute respiratory failure Monday, the Vatican said. It was the latest setback in the pope's 18-day battle against double pneumonia at a Roman hospital.

Francis, 88, remained "alert, oriented and cooperative" as "copious" amounts of mucus were extracted from his lungs during two bronchoscopies, where a camera-equipped suction tube was sent down into his airways, the Vatican said.

Who said what

This was the pope's "third serious downturn" since he was admitted to Gemelli Polyclinic hospital with a complex respiratory infection on Feb. 14, the BBC said. The Vatican said laboratory tests suggested the mucus was a response to Francis' original pneumonia, not a new infection.

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Monday's episodes were more worrisome than Friday's complication involving vomit the pope inhaled during a coughing fit, Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Chicago's Northwestern Medicine, told The Associated Press. The need to manually extract mucus "means that he is not clearing the secretions on his own," he said. "He's taking little steps forward and then steps back."

What next?

The pontiff's return to a mask forcing air into his lungs shows he "is still in danger," a Vatican official told The Washington Post. It's good news that the infection doesn't appear to be growing, but it's "premature" to discuss when the pope might be discharged. Catholics are holding nightly vigils in St. Peter's Square as the Holy See prepares for Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent without Pope Francis there to lead the liturgical rituals.