Vatican releases photo of Pope Francis

On Sunday, March 16, The Vatican shared the first photo of Pope Francis since he was admitted to Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14. (Photo Credit/Holy See Press Office)

By Philip A. Janquart

ICR Assistant Editor

The Vatican recently released the first photo of Pope Francis since his admission to Gemelli Hospital in mid-February.

The Holy See Press Office released the image on Sunday, March 16. Taken at an angle from Francis’ right side, it shows him sitting in a wheelchair wearing an alb and stole after concelebrating Holy Mass in the private chapel on the 10th floor of the hospital.

According to the Vatican, the Holy Father has visited the chapel daily since his medical condition began improving, according to a Feb. 25 Catholic News Agency report.

“For a number of days now, journalists and the public in general had been asking for a photo of the Pope,” Vatican News, the official Vatican press agency, stated on its website. “The last ones seen came over a month ago…Since then, nobody, apart from the doctors treating him and his closest collaborators, had been able to see the Pope.”

Vatican News added, “The Pope’s medical condition remains stable, as already confirmed in previous days, but still within a clinical context that the medical staff—as reported in the latest bulletins—defines as ‘complex.’”

Given the Pope’s stable medical condition, updates are being issued less frequently.

Francis was admitted to Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 to undergo testing and treatment for bronchitis. He later developed bilateral (both lungs), pneumonia, receiving oxygen and blood transfusions.