On the Vatican News website:
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.
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.
Earlier, the Vatican released this reflection by Francis for the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday!
Today, the second Sunday of Lent, the Gospel tells us about the Transfiguration of Jesus (Lk 9:28-36). Having climbed to the top of a mountain with Peter, James and John, Jesus immerses Himself in prayer and becomes radiant with light. In this way, He shows the disciples what is hidden behind the gestures He performs in their midst: the light of His infinite love.
I am sharing these thoughts with you while I am facing a period of trial, and I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick: fragile, at this time, like me. Our bodies are weak but, even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being for each other, in faith, shining signs of hope. 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! That is why 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. I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to “Gemelli” as a sign of closeness. Thank you, dearest children! The Pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you.
Let us continue to pray for peace, especially in the countries wounded by war: tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
And let us also pray for the Church, required to translate into concrete choices the discernment made in the recent Synodal Assembly. I thank the General Secretariat of the Synod, which over the coming three years will accompany the local Churches in this undertaking.
May the Virgin Mary keep you and help you to be, like Her, bearers of Christ’s light and peace.
