Pope Francis, hospitalized in critical condition with double pneumonia, was well enough to meet with the Vatican secretary of state to approve new decrees for saints and call a formal meeting to set the dates for their canonization,

Pope Francis, head of the Roman Catholic Church, has held his title for 12 years. What to know about the Jesuit.

The decrees, published on Tuesday in the Holy See's noon bulletin, signalled that the machinery of the Vatican is grinding on even with Francis hospitalized and in critical condition.