Pope Francis has spent 19 full days at Rome's Gemelli hospital, however, it doesn't come close to approaching the record-long stays of St. John Paul II during his quarter-century pontificate.

Pope Francis has spent 18 full days at Rome's Gemelli hospital recovering from double pneumonia. It's by far the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy, and there is no indication how long it may still last.

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