Pope eating and reading after second night in hospital

A woman kneels at the foot of a statue of late Pope John Paul II outside the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

Pope Francis read the newspapers and had breakfast on Sunday after a second night sleeping well at the hospital where the 88-year-old is being treated for a respiratory tract infection, the Vatican has said.

The Argentine pope, a known workaholic who keeps up a gruelling pace despite his many ailments, was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Friday after a week-long bout of bronchitis worsened.