Pope Francis, who is battling pneumonia and “mild” kidney failure, had a good night, slept and is resting, the Vatican said in a brief statement on Monday morning.

Vatican sources said later on Monday that the pope was awake and continuing with the therapy, and was eating normally and in good humour.

A further official update will be given later.

The pontiff, 88, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on 14 February and subsequently diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection and pneumonia in both lungs.

He had been showing signs of improvement until Saturday, when he was given supplemental oxygen and blood transfusions for a low platelet count after a prolonged asthma-style attack.

Blood tests on Sunday also indicated “a mild renal insufficiency, which is currently under control”. A statement that evening also said the pope was receiving “high-flow oxygen therapy” through a nasal cannula, but continued to remain “vigilant and well-orientated”.

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On Friday, doctors said the pope was not “not yet out of danger” and that he was expected to remain in hospital for at least another week.

They warned that the main threat facing the pope would be the onset of sepsis, a serious infection of the blood that can occur as a complication of pneumonia.

Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Gemelli hospital, said on Friday that the pontiff was taking a “significant” medication load and would not be discharged until he was fully out of the woods, because if he returned home, he would just start working again. “We need to focus on getting through this phase … the pope is not a person who gives up.”

He added that Francis knew that he “was in danger, and he told us to relay that”.

In a message published in lieu of his weekly Sunday Angelus prayer, which the pope normally delivers from a window overlooking Saint Peter’s Square, Francis thanked medical staff. “I am confidently continuing my hospitalisation at the Gemelli hospital, carrying on with the necessary treatment – and rest is also part of the therapy!” he said.

The pope has maintained a punishing work schedule, despite increasing health issues, and especially because it is the Catholic jubilee year. Last September, he carried out a mammoth 12-day tour to the Asia Pacific, one of the few places in the world where the Catholic church is growing in terms of baptised faithful and religious vocations.

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