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Peña Parra, who is the Vatican chief of staff, visited Francis on Feb. 24, March 2 and March 9 along with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the lone Vatican officials who have called on him aside from his personal secretaries.

“The pope will recover," Peña Parra said on the sidelines of a book launch. “The pope is . The doctors say that he needs some time, but it’s going well progressively."

“I found him well, serene, in good humor, and — just like him — tough with the desire to go forward,� he said.

The Vatican press office reported Friday that Francis' overall condition remained stable, with slight improvements as he continues respiratory and physical physiotherapy. He was continuing to reduce his reliance on high-flow supplemental oxygen he has needed to breathe during the day and no longer needs the mechanical ventilation mask at night.

In other comments Friday, another top friend and ally of the pope, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, said that “a new stage� was opening in Francis’ 12-year pontificate and that he expects some surprises from the pontiff when he's released.

Fernández, the Argentine theologian who Francis brought in as the Vatican’s doctrine chief, said that he had been in touch with Francis since his Feb. 14 hospitalization and was heartened that he had stabilized. He provided no time frame on when Francis might be released, but ruled out any thought that he might resign.

He said that he understood that Francis was responding well to treatment, but that doctors were keeping him at the hospital “to be 100%.� He said that Francis needed rehabilitation therapy to help him regain strength to speak after so many weeks on noninvasive mechanical ventilation and supplemental oxygen.

Fernández revealed that Francis had resisted going to the hospital when his bronchitis worsened, and only agreed to go after people close to him threatened to quit if he didn’t.

“I don’t know what swear words they used (to tell him) you have to go there, otherwise we go home and end our relationship here,� he said.

As a result, he said he knew that the hospitalization had been hard on Francis and had surely made him reflect.

“I think a new stage is opening for him. He is a man of surprises, who will surely have learned so many things in this month and he’ll pull who knows what out of the hat,� he said. “So even knowing that this has been a very heavy effort for him, a difficult time, I know it will be fruitful for the church and for the world.�

Francis hit the five-week mark in his hospitalization Friday. He was admitted Feb. 14 with a bad case of bronchitis that developed into a complex lung infection and double pneumonia. He has long battled respiratory illnesses and had part of one lung removed when he was a young man. He has admitted to being a bad patient and is a known workaholic.

“He wants to spend what little time he has left and says ‘I want to use it and not to take care of myself,’� Fernández said. “And then what happens? He comes back here and it’s not easy for him to follow the advice� of doctors.

That might change after this experience, he said.

“He has to certainly change, but I can't say what those details might be,� he said.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.