Pope Francis celebrates a mass inside the chapel of the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, March 16, 2025. Photo: Vatican Media/IPA via ZUMA Press/dpa
ROME, March 17 (Bernama-dpa) -- The Vatican has released the first photo of Pope Francis since he was admitted to hospital in mid-February, reported German Press Agency (dpa).
The image taken from behind him shows Francis seated in a wheelchair, wearing a cassock and stole.
"This morning Pope Francis concelebrated Holy Mass in the chapel of his apartment on the tenth floor of the Gemelli Polyclinic," said the caption distributed by the Holy See press office.
[bootstrap slideshow](//www.jssor.com)
The head of the Catholic Church has been receiving treatment at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome since February 14 and has not been seen in public since then.
The 88-year-old is suffering from a complicated case of pneumonia in both lungs.
On Saturday evening, the Holy See described his state of health as "stable." This confirmed the progress made last week, it said.
_BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies. Follow us on social media :_
_Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio_
_
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
_