The Vatican denied reports the Pope is battling pneumonia, saying he's breathing on his own one day after undergoing surgery to help ease his respiratory troubles.

Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said John Paul the Second will have to stay at Rome's Gemelli hospital for the time being, but that he is doing better.

"The Holy Father spent a night of tranquil rest," he said.

"This morning, he ate breakfast with a good appetite. The post-operative situation continues regularly. He's breathing on his own and cardio-circulatory conditions remain good."

"Upon the advice of his doctors, the Pope must not speak for several days, so as to favour the recovery of the functions of the larynx," Navarro-Valls said.

John Paul was rushed to hospital for the second time in a month on Thursday, for treatment of complications from the flu that forced his hospitalization in early February.

He underwent what the Vatican called "an elective tracheotomy."

Hospital officials said the 84-year-old pontiff had "given his consensus" for the procedure -- which involves making an incision in the windpipe and inserting a tube to bring air directly to the lungs.

"It was a question of assuring adequate breathing of the patient," Navarro-Valls said.

But while the Vatican chose not to describe the operation as an emergency measure, it did little to calm fears about the Pope's health. A tracheotomy is usually considered an option of last resort.

On Friday, the Pope reportedly scrawled a few words on paper, jokingly asking, "What did they do to me?"

Spirits at the Vatican were also buoyed upon word from doctors that the Pope did not have a fever, nor a lung infection, CTV's Tom Kennedy reported from Rome.

"What really concerns doctors who have been following the progress of the Pope's condition is the possibility of pneumonia," he said.

"If that were to set in, it would be very, very dangerous."

By Saturday, the Vatican should know what the Pope will do for his Sunday blessing, Navarro-Valls said.

The Pope, who has Parkinson's disease and suffers from crippling knee and hip ailments, was admitted to the hospital earlier this month, after developing throat spasms from the effects of the flu.

He appeared to rebound from the illness after his release on Feb. 10.
But some sort of breathing crisis prompted his readmittance before noon on Thursday.

CTV's Vatican affairs correspondent Gerry O'Connell said the Pope was transported by ambulance, which indicated "a certain level of emergency and of crisis."

This is the eighth time the Pope has been hospitalized since his election in 1978 -- and it's raising new questions about his ability to continue in the job.

The Pope and top Vatican officials have insisted he will not resign.

"From very key sources, I am getting the information that resignation is not in the cards right now, they think he will pull through this," O'Connell reported from Rome on Friday.

But Kennedy reports that what was once a very active papacy "is running the risk now of becoming just the opposite, a very inactive papacy while the pope continues to recover."

With files from CTV's Tom Kennedy and The Associated Press