How’s Pope Francis doing? Can you give him my get-well wishes? Can I speak with him directly? The nuns who operate the Vatican’s switchboard are fielding a growing number of calls with questions like that as the pope remains hospitalized in Rome.

The nuns who operate the Vatican's switchboard are fielding a growing number of calls while the pope is in the hospital.

Alexandria SAGEPope Francis is improving but still requires various in-hospital therapies, the Vatican said Saturday, even as it revealed the 88-year-old pontiff had laid plans to extend his years-long Synod process into 2028.