He was cared for by a cardiologist and infectious specialist in addition to his personal medical team before being hospitalised.

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of medicine and surgery at Rome's Gemelli hospital, said the biggest threat facing Francis was that some of the germs that are currently located in his respiratory system pass into the bloodstream, causing sepsis.

Sepsis can lead to organ failure and death. Sepsis, with his respiratory problems and his age, would be really difficult to get out of, Alfieri told a news conference Friday at Gemelli.

The English say knock on wood,' we say touch iron.' Everyone touch what they want, he said as he tapped the microphone. But this is the real risk in these cases: that these germs pass to the bloodstream. He knows he's in danger, Alfieri added. And he told us to relay that.

Deacons, meanwhile, were gathering at the Vatican for their special Jubilee weekend.

Francis got sick at the start of the Vatican's Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration of Catholicism.

This weekend, Francis was supposed to have celebrated deacons, a ministry in the church that precedes ordination to the priesthood.

In his place, the Holy Year organiser will celebrate Sunday's Mass, the Vatican said.

And for the second weekend in a row, Francis was expected to skip his traditional Sunday noon blessing, which he could have delivered from Gemelli if he were up to it.

Look, even though he's not (physically) here, we know he's here, said Luis Arnaldo Lopez Quirindongo, a deacon from Ponce, Puerto Rico who was at the Vatican on Saturday for the Jubilee celebration.

He's recovering, but he's in our hearts and is accompanying us because our prayers and his go together.

Beyond that, doctors have said Francis' recovery will take time and that regardless he will still have to live with his chronic respiratory problems back at the Vatican.

He has to get over this infection and we all hope he gets over it, said Alfieri. But the fact is, all doors are open.

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