In a later bulletin, the Vatican announced that Francis had additionally named a handful of new bishops for Brazil, named a new archbishop for Vancouver, and modified the law for the Vatican City State to create a new hierarchy.
In its Tuesday lunchtime update on his condition, the Vatican said Francis, who was admitted earlier this month, approved decrees for five people for beatification and two new saints.
On Monday evening, as thousands of people gathered in St Peter's Square to pray for him, doctors said that, while he remained in critical condition, he had shown a "slight improvement" in some tests, the most upbeat bulletin in days.
Doctors have said the condition of the Argentine pontiff, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility, and pre-existing lung disease before the pneumonia set in.
The pontiff, 88, who is receiving treatment at Rome's Gemelli hospital, met Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, the so-called Vatican "substitute" or chief of staff.
