The Vatican on Saturday said that Pope Francis’s condition continues to be “critical” after suffering a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis.” The pontiff is “more unwell than yesterday” and had received blood transfusions,

Many who know him said that Francis, driven by a sense of mission and a discipline born of his early training, essentially worked himself into the hospital.

Pope Francis was in critical condition Saturday after he suffered a long asthmatic respiratory crisis that required high flows of oxygen, the Vatican said.