Several hundred worshippers gathered at St Peter's Square under heavy police presence to await news of the pope, who received the rites administered to the ill when approaching death after his health took a dramatic turn for the worse.

"I'm in anguish going through this. I learned that the pope was very sick during the night, while I was at work, and I came straight here," said a Roman citizen in his 50s.

"I'm not a believer but I felt the need to come here anyway, in the face of so much suffering," said another young man.

Vatican Radio said early Friday that the pope's condition appeared to have stabilised, the first positive news on his health after Italian news reports that he had received the last rites and was even too weak to be hospitalised.