The Vatican has released the first photograph of Pope Francis since he was rushed to hospital more than a month ago with pneumonia.
The leader of the Catholic church had not been seen since he was admitted at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome in February.
Just a week later, the Pontiff’s condition was described as critical as it was reported he required breathing assistance.
The Pope’s condition is now stable amid a continuing battle with pneumonia and onset kidney failure.
The newly-released photo shows the Pope celebrating a mass in his prayer room earlier this morning.
Earlier today the Pope issued his prayer from his hospital bed, saying he faces a ‘period of trial’.
It is the fifth week in a row that the Pontiff has had to issue the prayer as a written text as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
However his age and lack of mobility means that he remains in a physically vulnerable state.
Pope Francis concelebrates Holy Mass in the chapel of the apartment on the tenth floor of the Gemelli hospital
Pope Francis, 88, said in his latest Sunday prayer, issued from his hospital bed, that he faces a ‘period of trial’
A statement from the Vatican said: ‘This morning Pope Francis concelebrated the Holy Mass in the chapel of the apartment on the 10th floor of the Policlinico Gemelli.’
In his prayer, The 88-year-old also took time to pay thanks to the medical staff who have been treating him during his latest sickness.
He said: ‘How much light shines, in this sense, in hospitals and places of care!
‘How much loving care illuminates the rooms, the corridors, the clinics, the places where the humblest services are performed!’
Recent reports have suggested an improvement in the state of the Pope’s health following his treatment for double pneumonia.
The Argentina-born religious figurehead has chronic lung disease and still requires hospital care, but is in a ‘stable’ condition and showing ‘gradual improvements,’ Vatican News reported.
Francis has been using high flows of supplemental oxygen to help him breathe during the day and a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night.
He had not been seen in public since entering hospital and his doctors have not said how long the treatment might last.
Doctors not involved in Francis’s care have said the Pope is likely to face a long, fraught road to recovery, given his age and other factors.
Pope Francis speaks with then Prince Charles on the day of the canonisation of 19th-century British cardinal John Henry Newman at the Vatican on October 13, 2019
A new statement issued by the Holy See Press Office yesterday evening said the pontiff’s condition ‘remains stable’ and showed signs of ‘gradual improvements’
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BREAKING NEWS
Stricken Pope Francis says he faces 'period of trial' in Sunday prayer from his hospital bed
The pontiff was initially hospitalized on Valentine’s Day for a bad case of bronchitis.
The infection then progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined the Pope for the longest period of his 12-year papacy.
Pope Francis, who is well-known as a controversial advocate for social justice, also sent words of hope to nations around the world beset by military conflict.
The pontiff offered prayers to ‘countries wounded by war…tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.’