The Vatican has released the first photo of Pope Francis since he entered the Gemelli Hospital in Rome on February 14.
“This morning, Pope Francis concelebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of the tenth-floor apartment at the Gemelli Polyclinic,” according to a statement from the Vatican Press Office.
In the photo, the Holy Father can be seen seated before the altar of the chapel where he concelebrated the Eucharist, in what is the first image of the Pontiff since he was admitted to the hospital, first suffering from bronchitis and then pneumonia.
The Vatican also reported that "the Pope's condition remains stable" and after concelebrating Sunday Mass, "he is continuing with the prescribed therapies” including respiratory and physical therapy.
Pope Francis did not receive any visitors Sunday, instead dedicating the day to "prayer, rest, and some work."
The Vatican Press Office further indicated that tomorrow, Monday, "there will also be no medical bulletin. The Press Office will provide some general information to journalists in the afternoon."
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
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Walter Sanchez Silva is a senior writer for ACI Prensa. He has experience in researching and covering international ecclesiastical events such as World Youth Days (WYD) in Cologne 2005, Madrid 2011, and Rio 2013; the Fifth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopal Council in Aparecida; as well as the trips of Pope Benedict XVI in May 2007 to Brazil and in 2012 to Mexico. He covered Pope Francis' trip to South Korea in 2014 and the Synods of Bishops in the Vatican in 2015 (on the family) and 2019 (on the Amazon). He was also sent to cover the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and served as a field producer in Buenos Aires in 2013 for the documentary "Pope Francis: The Pope of the New World".
