Pope misses prayers

The Pope stayed in hospital and missed Ash Wednesday prayers for the first time in his 26-year papacy.

As the Pope began a second week in a Rome hospital, where he is being treated for respiratory problems, there was no official word on when the 84-year-old Pontiff might be discharged.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent, the 40-day Christian period of sacrifice and penitence which culminates in the Easter celebrations.