Many who know him said that Francis, driven by a sense of mission and a discipline born of his early training, essentially worked himself into the hospital.

The Vatican says Pope Francis had a "good rest" overnight as he is being treated for double pneumonia in a Rome hospital. The Vatican said the 88-year-old pontiff is expected to stay in the hospital at least another week,

The Catholic Church is almost 2,000 years old, and over the centuries, the protocol for papal funerals has been codified and refined into a seamless procedure. In the case of the pope’s death, Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell would be expected to confirm his death with the aid of medical professionals.