Pope Francis, who suffered two respiratory crises on Monday as he battles double pneumonia, has stabilised and no longer needs to use mechanical ventilation for help breathing, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

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?

Pope Francis faced two acute respiratory crises on Monday, requiring noninvasive mechanical ventilation again due to pneumonia complications.