Pope Francis, in hospital with pneumonia, suffered a breathing “crisis” on Friday which caused him to vomit, but he was given air and responded well, the Vatican said.

The 88-year-old, who has spent the past two weeks at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, “presented an isolated crisis of bronchospasm which… led to an episode of vomiting with inhalation and a sudden worsening of the respiratory picture”, it said in a statement.

“The Holy Father promptly underwent bronchoaspiration and began non-invasive mechanical ventilation, with a good response on gas exchange,” it said.

Francis “remained alert and oriented at all times, cooperating with the therapeutic manoeuvres,” it added.

The pope was hospitalised on February 14 for breathing difficulties but his condition deteriorated into pneumonia in both lungs, sparking widespread alarm.

He suffered a breathing attack at the weekend, but since then appeared to have been getting slightly better, with the Vatican releasing more optimistic medical updates.

A Vatican source went so far Friday as to say Francis’s condition was not currently critical following incremental improvements in his condition.

But the Vatican has not yet modified the pope’s prognosis of “reserved”, — which means doctors will not predict changes in his health.

Medical experts have warned that Francis’s age and the chronic respiratory disease from which he suffers mean a sustained recovery could take time.

And Friday’s bulletin from the Vatican stressed once again that his “prognosis remains reserved”.

This hospital stay is Francis’s longest since he was elected pope in 2013.

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