Berliner Boersenzeitung - Pope seen celebrating mass in first photo since hospitalisation

EUR -
AED 4.007398
AFN 76.991326
ALL 99.247491
AMD 426.218844
ANG 1.965344
AOA 998.390733
ARS 1164.930737
AUD 1.712474
AWG 1.966775
AZN 1.882987
BAM 1.956342
BBD 2.20181
BDT 132.496701
BGN 1.956878
BHD 0.411137
BIF 3231.495103
BMD 1.091137
BND 1.452102
BOB 7.535087
BRL 6.20377
BSD 1.090502
BTN 94.684227
BWP 14.827107
BYN 3.568789
BYR 21386.289861
BZD 2.190507
CAD 1.560735
CDF 3137.019646
CHF 0.961663
CLF 0.026336
CLP 1010.629938
CNY 7.892417
CNH 7.894176
COP 4444.474754
CRC 543.950671
CUC 1.091137
CUP 28.915137
CVE 110.244009
CZK 25.062332
DJF 194.19379
DKK 7.460509
DOP 68.62901
DZD 145.678855
EGP 55.122728
ERN 16.367059
ETB 143.019515
FJD 2.48845
FKP 0.840381
GBP 0.840907
GEL 3.038801
GGP 0.840381
GHS 16.909308
GIP 0.840381
GMD 78.653687
GNF 9434.179944
GTQ 8.410022
GYD 228.354609
HKD 8.477836
HNL 27.899963
HRK 7.535613
HTG 143.23259
HUF 397.357814
IDR 17851.232608
ILS 3.997
IMP 0.840381
INR 94.606708
IQD 1428.293362
IRR 45933.882192
ISK 145.96633
JEP 0.840381
JMD 170.638794
JOD 0.773642
JPY 163.413046
KES 141.233658
KGS 95.696133
KHR 4364.767242
KMF 491.472006
KPW 981.996926
KRW 1576.712519
KWD 0.335988
KYD 0.90744
KZT 544.160564
LAK 23633.209035
LBP 97709.405045
LKR 323.605779
LRD 218.119231
LSL 19.729795
LTL 3.221844
LVL 0.660018
LYD 5.249153
MAD 10.533291
MDL 19.81805
MGA 5079.170192
MKD 61.548985
MMK 2289.906802
MNT 3790.875533
MOP 8.732334
MRU 43.265193
MUR 49.132389
MVR 16.84859
MWK 1891.124354
MXN 21.805886
MYR 4.851959
MZN 69.705559
NAD 19.729795
NGN 1681.923648
NIO 40.129084
NOK 11.514113
NPR 151.441687
NZD 1.875676
OMR 0.420089
PAB 1.091137
PEN 3.98547
PGK 4.487158
PHP 62.455912
PKR 305.341874
PLN 4.180133
PYG 8671.498452
QAR 3.971951
RON 4.973157
RSD 117.086039
RUB 91.541546
RWF 1547.667585
SAR 4.091346
SBD 9.299606
SCR 15.677774
SDG 655.708307
SEK 11.029329
SGD 1.451299
SHP 0.857463
SLE 24.905219
SLL 22880.603489
SOS 622.94907
SRD 39.927105
STD 22584.337825
SVC 9.547442
SYP 14186.887175
SZL 19.729795
THB 36.650533
TJS 11.929421
TMT 3.815311
TND 3.362157
TOP 2.627768
TRY 40.006749
TTD 7.409017
TWD 35.969627
TZS 2900.114466
UAH 45.282727
UGX 4001.493379
USD 1.091137
UYU 46.51614
UZS 14132.63203
VES 71.180056
VND 27856.121564
VUV 134.45369
WST 3.033814
XAF 655.296008
XAG 0.032146
XAU 0.000362
XCD 2.954063
XDR 0.819116
XOF 655.296008
XPF 119.331742
YER 269.280661
ZAR 19.754827
ZMK 9821.554102
ZMW 31.245162
ZWL 351.345745
  • RBGPF

    66.7800

    66.78

    +100%

  • CMSC

    0.1100

    23.33

    +0.47%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    10.44

    -0.1%

  • SCS

    0.0200

    11.01

    +0.18%

  • NGG

    0.9300

    64.14

    +1.45%

  • RELX

    0.6700

    49.6

    +1.35%

  • AZN

    -0.2300

    77.37

    -0.3%

  • RIO

    0.4300

    63.47

    +0.68%

  • CMSD

    0.1900

    23.54

    +0.81%

  • BTI

    0.4800

    41.84

    +1.15%

  • GSK

    0.7600

    40.25

    +1.89%

  • JRI

    0.1700

    13

    +1.31%

  • BCC

    0.6500

    100

    +0.65%

  • VOD

    0.3100

    9.86

    +3.14%

  • BCE

    0.2300

    23.7

    +0.97%

  • BP

    0.3700

    33.76

    +1.1%

Pope seen celebrating mass in first photo since hospitalisation
Pope seen celebrating mass in first photo since hospitalisation / Photo: Handout - VATICAN MEDIA/AFP

Pope seen celebrating mass in first photo since hospitalisation

The Vatican released the first photograph of Pope Francis on Sunday since his hospitalisation over a month ago, showing the pontiff celebrating mass earlier in the day from the chapel in his hospital suite.

Text size:

The release of the photo was significant, as the Argentine pope has not been seen in public since being admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 for pneumonia in both lungs, which for weeks doctors considered critical.

The photo shows the 88-year-old pope, bare-headed without his customary white skullcap and wearing a white robe and purple stole. He is seated in a wheelchair in front of a simple altar with a crucifix on the wall.

The Vatican said it had been taken Sunday morning.

Taken from behind Francis' right side, his face is not fully visible but his eyes are open as he looks in a downward direction.

"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.

- 'Our bodies are weak' -

Since his hospitalisation, Francis has been unable to preside over mass at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Nor has he personally delivered the Angelus prayer that follows the mass to the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square.

But earlier Sunday, in an Angelus message published by the Vatican, he thanked well-wishers while acknowledging his fragile health.

"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," he added.

The message marked the second Sunday of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer and reflection leading up to Easter.

Francis has improved steadily over the past week, the Vatican saying Saturday his condition continued to be stable, although he still required therapy to be administered from the hospital.

Although he has yet to appear at the window of his papal suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital, this has not dissuaded a steady stream of well-wishers from gathering, including tango dancers and dozens of children on Sunday.

About a dozen couples in street clothes danced the tango under grey skies in front of a throng of cameras near the hospital entrance.

"With this tango, he must be discharged," enthused 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.

- 'The pope of the children' -

Earlier, a group of young scouts from a Catholic group stood by a statue of former Pope John Paul II at the entrance, holding yellow and white balloons and vainly striving to catch a glimpse of the pope.

Group leader, Valerio Santobonio, 23 said the five to seven-year-olds did not quite yet grasp who the pope is, nor his health situation.

Nevertheless, he added, their visit was "a bit like giving them a window onto a wider stage of Christian life".

Other children had arrived in the early morning from an impoverished town near Naples to deliver a letter to Francis, said Andrea Lacomini from UNICEF, which organised the excursion.

"He loves children, he is the pope of the children, so we are waiting for him. We're sure he will get better," Lacomini told AFP.

"We need an important leader like him, because at this time there aren't many heroes in the world," he added.

"He's the only one who talks about peace."

Francis addressed his youngest well-wishers in his message.

"I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to 'Gemelli' as a sign of closeness," he wrote.

"Thank you, dearest children! The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you."

- 'Loving care' -

Last week the Vatican signalled that Francis was out of immediate danger after a series of breathing crises earlier in his hospitalisation had sparked fears for the Jesuit's life.

Although the Vatican has said that Francis continues to work from his hospital suite when able, his absence is particularly felt as Easter approaches.

What is the holiest period in the Christian calendar, when the leader of the world's Catholics presides over a busy programme of events, is just five weeks away.

In his written message Sunday -- which also called for peace in war-torn countries including Ukraine, Myanmar and Sudan -- Francis again thanked those caring for and 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!" he wrote.

(Y.Berger--BBZ)