Pope John Paul II could remain in hospital until the middle of next week, the Vatican (news - web sites) said despite an upbeat medical report on the flu-striken 84-year-old leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The pope had spent a restful second night in hospital and the results of a battery of medical tests carried out by his doctors showed he was responding well to treatment, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
The pontiff's general and respiratory condition "is showing a positive evolution," Navarro-Valls said, quoting from an official medical bulletin.
His acute breathing difficulties are "in a regression phase and there has been no repeat of the laryngo-spasm episodes which motivated his emergency hospitalization" on Tuesday night.
"He has had a good rest all night and the laboratory tests which were done showed satisfactory results," the statement said.
However, Navarro-Valls also dampened expectations of an early release for the pontiff which had built up via comments from various officials the previous day.
Asked earlier how long the pope was expected to remain hospitalized, he said: "my personal experience whenever I've had flu, as I've said before, is that it lasts seven days, or a week -- you choose."
The comment from Navarro-Valls, through which all information about the pope's condition is being channelled, represents a subtle shift from previous statements by a number of officials, including himself.
He said Wednesday the pope faced "another few days", while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- after consulting with his Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia who met Vatican officials and doctors at the Gemelli late Wednesday -- said he believed the pope could be released in "two or three days".
Journalists and concerned Catholics hungry for news about the pope's condition continued to hold a watching brief outside the Gemelli hospital on Thursday, while Catholics in Rome and around the world prayed for their spiritual leader.
Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Angelo Sodano told Italy's TG5 television news that the pope was "recovering well" as a result of treatment to ease his breathing.
Sodano said it would have been possible to have treated the pope at the Vatican, but the pontiff has decided to heed the advice of his long-time physician, Renato Buzzonetti, and move to the Gemelli Catholic teaching hospital near the Vatican, where a special suite was already prepared for him.
John Paul II last appeared in public Sunday, when he joked with children who joined him for his weekly Angelus address, and who helped him release two doves as a symbol of peace.
After cancelling engagements because of the onset of influenza, which is rife in Italy at the moment, the pope was rushed to the hospital on Tuesday evening suffering breathing difficulties which Navarro-Valls described as "acute".
He said without going into details that the pope, who also suffers from Parkinson's disease, had received "respiratory assistance".
The pope has been dogged by shortage of breath in recent years, forcing him to leave aides to complete his prepared homilies.
Vatican watchers said doubts about the pope's state of health would be dispelled if he showed himself to the public from his hospital window on the 10th floor of the Gemelli, for instance, for the Angelus prayer on Sunday.
The pope's hospital suite includes a chapel adjoining his room, where the pontiff was reported to have concelebrated mass on Wednesday morning with his two private secretaries, Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz and his deputy Monsignor Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki.