Pope Francis continued his slow recovery from double pneumonia on Thursday, beating back speculation of an imminent death, resignation or conclave and signaling that he was still very much in charge, albeit in a weakened state.

A scholar of global Catholicism writes how Francis has opened the church to the outside world in ways no pope had done before.

The Vatican, though, made alternative plans for Ash Wednesday next week, making clear Francis still had a long road ahead. Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, a Vatican official and former vicar of Rome, will preside over the March 5 ceremony and procession that inaugurates the church’s solemn Lenten season leading up to Easter in April.