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

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is participating in the Vatican’s weeklong spiritual retreat from a Rome hospital as he continued his recovery on Monday from double pneumonia and looks ahead to the 12th anniversary of his election amid questions about what the future of his papacy might look like.

With Pope Francis entering his fourth week in hospital, those working in the Apostolic Palace are grappling with the continuing uncertainty over the pope’s health. The same is true for everyone in the Vatican.