Vatican Shares 1st Photo of Pope Francis Since Hospitalization

The Holy See Press Office releases a photo of Pope Francis in prayer after having concelebrated the Eucharist on Sunday morning. This is the first photo since his hospitalization on 14 February. Pope Francis' medical condition remains stable and his respiratory therapy and physiotherapy continue.

In the photo of Pope Francis taken from behind him, he is seated in a wheelchair, wearing a cassock and stole after concelebrating Mass. The photo shows him looking at the crucifix on the altar of the chapel on the tenth floor of the hospital where he has gone to pray every day since his medical condition has shown slight improvements.

This is the first photo of Pope Francis since he was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on 14 February. The Holy See Press Office distributed the photo on Sunday evening 16 March.

Hopes for seeing the Pope

For a number of days now, journalists and the public in general had been asking for a photo of the Pope.

The last ones seen came over a month ago when at his Santa Marta residence prior to his hospitalization the Pope received members of Spain's Gaudium et Spes Foundation. Since then, nobody apart from the doctors treating him and his closest collaborators had been able to see the Pope.

His voice was heard, however, in the audio clip played on 6 March during the Rosary in Saint Peter's Square, where he blessed the faithful and thanked those who have prayed for him during this time of illness.

This morning around 200 children from UNICEF and various groups from Italy gathered in the square in front of Gemelli Hospital bearing flowers, balloons, and a "symbolic embrace" for the Pope. They looked up at the windows of the tenth floor of the hospital where the Pope is receiving care hoping to see perhaps a glimpse of him or a possible surprise greeting and blessing.

Prayer, rest, physiotherapy

On Sunday evening 16 March, a new sign of Pope Francis' "presence" arrived during his time in prayer. Prayer is part of his daily routine, along with rest and therapy: both pharmacological, respiratory, and physiotherapy, which are continuing. According to the Holy See Press Office, the Pope has benefited particularly from the physiotherapy. He did not receive visitors on Sunday and continued with some work.

The Pope's medical condition remains stable, as already confirmed in previous days, but still within a clinical context that the medical staff - as reported in the latest bulletins - defines as "complex." Medical updates being issued less frequently, given the Pope's stable medical condition. At the same time, the Holy See Press Office continues to update journalists daily on the Pope's health.

There are now 700 accredited journalists, numbers that have grown since the Pope's hospitalization. In the meantime, the Pope continues his daily activities at the hospital which has been his residence for over a month. "A period of trial," as he wrote in his Sunday Angelus reflections of 16 March, in which he has united his prayers with the many other sick brothers and sisters, "fragile, at this time, like me."