In this photo released by the Vatican press office, Pope Francis celebrates a mass inside the chapel of the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome on Sunday. It is the first image of the 88-year-old pontiff since he was admitted to the hospital a month ago. (AP)
ROME — In the photo, Pope Francis appears slightly slumped in his wheelchair, adorned in white robes and a purple stole before an altar at the Rome hospital where he has been a patient since Feb. 14. The shot is not head on — perhaps because it remains frowned upon in the Holy See to capture clear images of an ailing pope.
The photo shared by the Vatican on Sunday — the first of Francis since his hospitalization — is said to have been taken earlier in the day, when, officials said, Francis was co-celebrating Mass in the chapel of his hospital suite where he has been battling the worst health crisis of his papacy. There is no one else present in the photo and there are no signs of tubes or an oxygen mask. The pope is positioned on the opposite side of where a priest might stand to say Mass. The identity of the photographer who took the image was not disclosed.
It was a consolation prize of sorts.
Anticipation had run high Sunday that Francis might make his first public appearance since his admission to Rome’s Gemelli hospital a month ago. A group of refugee and underprivileged children had turned out earlier in the day to say prayers and read aloud letters to the pope. From an interior courtyard, near a statue of Pope John Paul II, they sent up chants in Italian of “torna da noi!” — “return to us!” Eyes were peeled on the windows above, but the pope never showed.
Francis is said to be recovering. The latest health update from the Vatican on Sunday night called his condition “stable,” noting that he continued sessions of respiratory and motor therapy. He had no visitors and spent the day praying, resting and doing a “little work.”
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In a written version of his Angelus prayer — typically read aloud by the pope on Sundays, though he has not done so since his hospital admission — Francis acknowledged the extent of his health troubles. “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.”
He added, “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.”
Despite intense pressure from the media, the Vatican had refrained from distributing or allowing photographs of the ailing pope. Instead, it has issued surprisingly detailed reports on his health and described several meetings between the pope and senior clerics, as well as one early in his stay with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The absence of images has made Francis the target of rampant fake photos and conspiracy theories across social media, with some posts even claiming that Francis might even be dead. It remained unclear the extent to which the image released Sunday would quell that furor.
Francis on March 6 issued a short recorded message from his hospital suite to the faithful who have been praying for his health nightly in St. Peter’s Square. In the 26-second message, the pope’s words were halting, as if he was gasping for breath.
The 88-year-old pontiff, who had part of one lung removed in his youth, has for weeks been on nightly treatments of “noninvasive mechanical ventilation” — an exterior mask that covers the mouth and nose and is one step short of a breathing tube. In a medical update Saturday, the Vatican said his condition was improving to the point where doctors have gradually begun reducing ventilation, though Francis remains on high-flow oxygen as he undergoes respiratory and physical therapy.
Doctors last Monday removed what had been a “guarded prognosis” on Francis’s health, saying his respiratory infection no longer posed a direct threat to his life. However, they have warned that his age and frailty have left his overall medical condition “complicated.” No target date has been announced for his hospital release.
During his health crisis, the Vatican has sought to portray a pope who, even from his hospital bed, has remained at work, taking several significant steps and furthering a slow-moving process of church reform.
On Saturday, the Vatican announced that Francis, on March 11, had given approval to a timeline for furthering the recommendations of two historical church summits, or synods, in 2023 and 2024. The synods resulted in calls for greater participation of the laity in decision-making, as well as increased transparency and accountability by church leadership. Ten study groups were also created, including one charged with evaluating the role of women in the church, including their possible ordination as deacons — a step that Francis has been reluctant to take even as he has permitted dialogue on the topic.
The new timeline authorized by Francis calls for publication in May of new guidelines that dioceses across the globe will be asked to embrace. The schedule calls for a three-year “implementation” process ahead of a new major “ecclesial assembly” in Vatican City in 2028.