Global media outlets, including CNN, CBS and NBC, are getting ready to descend upon Rome and Vatican City following reports that Pope Francis is in critical condition. Logistical aspects such as renting terrace space to get the best camera angles of St.

Time-honored rituals, drafted and refined over centuries, allow for ritual mourning and provide order at a dramatic moment of transition.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has showed slight improvement in laboratory tests, and has resumed some work activities, including calling a parish in Gaza City that he has kept in touch with since the war there began.