The Pope may have to return to the hospital to have a feeding tube inserted, an Italian news agency has reported.
It stressed that no decision has been made.
The APcom news agency, citing an unidentified source, said the Pope might have to have the tube inserted to improve his nutrition since he is having difficulty swallowing with the breathing tube that was inserted on February 24th.
APcom said the idea of inserting a feeding tube was being considered. The procedure involves surgically inserting a narrow tube through the abdomen and into the stomach to allow for artificial feeding.
Earlier, the Italian daily Corriere della Serareported the Pope's doctors were considering whether he should return to hospital next week for tests on the breathing tube and to adjust his diet because of problems swallowing.
There was no comment from the Vatican and Nicola Cerbino, a spokesman at Polyclinic Gemelli hospital where John Paul was taken twice last month, called it media speculation.
Another newspaper, La Repubblica, quoted the pope's Vatican physician, Dr Renato Buzzonetti, as saying doctors were "reasonably calm" about the frail Pope's condition.
The 84-year-old pontiff, who was unable to preside at Holy Week events, skipped another tradition on Easter Monday - a post-Easter blessing from his window - ending the Easter holiday as silently as he began it.
AP