BREAKING Pope Francis' 1st Photo from Inside Hospital after the Pope Concelebrated Sunday Holy Mass


Vatican News released that Pope Francis concelebrated Holy Mass in the private chapel of Gemelli Hospital on Sunday, March 16, 2025.
For the 1st time since the pope's hospitalization the Holy See Press Office released 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.
On X Pope Francis wrote: I would like to invite you, today, to join me in praising the Lord, who never abandons us and who, in times of sorrow, places people beside us who reflect a ray of His love. I thank you all for your prayers, and I thank those who assist me with such dedication.

The photo of Pope Francis, taken from behind him, shows him seated in a wheelchair, wearing a cassock and stole after concelebrating Mass for the 2nd Sunday of Lent (Purple liturgical color). 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.  The Holy See Press Office distributed the photo on Sunday evening 16 March.

He also thanked the children in the message the Vatican press office published at noon. “I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to Gemelli as a sign of closeness,” he wrote. “Thank you, dearest children! The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you.”
It was the fifth Sunday in a row, that Pope Francis did not come to his window for the recitation of the Angelus prayer, but yellow and white balloons flew past his hospital room. For several days, 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.

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 has been receiving the Eucharist daily.

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."
Source: Vatican News
Image:(@salastampaVaticana)<

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