Vatican Releases First Image of Pope Francis in A Chapel

The Vatican has released the first image of 88-year-old Pope Francis since he was hospitalized last month for the treatment of double pneumonia.

The image was taken from behind, showing the Pope facing the beautiful altar in a chapel at the hospital where he was celebrating Mass.

Pope Francis was seen seated in a wheelchair, wearing his white robe and purple stole.

“This morning Pope Francis concelebrated the Holy Mass in the chapel of the apartment on the tenth floor of the Gemelli Polyclinic,” the Vatican press office wrote in the photograph's caption.

The head of the Catholic Church was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on February 14 after both his lungs were affected by Pneumonia.

The condition of his health has been improving steadily over the past week. Doctors said that the Pope is no longer in a critical condition, however keeping his age in mind, his health remains complex.

Earlier, his condition was said to be critical, and he was unable to preside over Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Nor has he delivered the Angelus to the faithful crowds in St. Peter's Square.

In an Angelus message published by the Vatican, he thanked his well-wishers.

“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,” wrote Francis.

“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,” the Pontiff rightfully said.

Although he did not appear at the window of his papal suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital, tango dancers and children gathered to cheer the pope on Sunday. Couples danced the tango near the hospital entrance in front of cameras.

“With this tango, he must be discharged,” said dancer Daiana Guspero, 38, who like the pope hailed from Buenos Aires.

“I want him to feel our energy, our love for tango and for an Argentine pope,” she told AFP.

In his written message on Sunday, he called for peace in war-torn countries such as Ukraine, Myanmar, and Sudan. He also thanked those who are praying for him."

“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!” Pope Francis thoughtfully wrote.