The Vatican on Sunday released the first photograph of Pope Francis since the 88-year-old pontiff was admitted more than a month ago to hospital for pneumonia in both lungs.
The photo shows the pope, bare-headed, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a white robe and purple shawl, in front of a simple altar with a crucifix on the wall.
Taken from behind Francis' right side, his face is not fully visible, a but his eyes are open as he looks downward.
"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.
Concelebration is the joint celebration of mass by senior clerics.
The release of the photo by the Vatican was significant, as the Argentine pontiff has not been seen in public since being admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 for pneumonia, which for weeks doctors considered critical.
He has improved steadily in the past week, however. In a medical bulletin Saturday, the Vatican said his condition continued to be stable, although he still required therapy to be administered from the hospital.
Earlier Sunday in an Angelus message to the faithful published by the Vatican, the pope addressed his health, sharing that he was "fragile" and "facing a period of trial".
AFP