Dozens of children carrying yellow and white balloons gathered outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital to greet Pope Francis on his fifth Sunday in hospital with double pneumonia.
While the pope did not appear from the 10th-floor set of windows, he acknowledged their presence in the traditional Sunday blessing.
“I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to Gemelli as a sign of closeness,” the pontiff said in the Angelus text prepared for the traditional prayer but not delivered live again.
“Thank you, dearest children. The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you,” Francis said.
Rev Enzo Fortunato, the president of the pontifical committee for World Children’s Day who organised the event, said the gathering of children with their parents was as a form of spiritual medicine for the 88-year-old pontiff, calling it “the most beautiful caress”.
“The children represent a symbolic medicine for Pope Francis,” he said. “Letting him know that so many children are here for him cheers the heart.”
They included 20 children accompanied by the St Egidio charity and 50 children accompanied by Unicef.
The pope typically delivers the Angelus from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square to the gathered faithful, who have grown more numerous due to the Jubilee year that Francis inaugurated in December.
Balloons with the colours of the Vatican flag are reflected on the windows of the Gemelli hospital (Gregorio Borgia/AP)
In the written text, Francis said he was thinking of others, who like him, are in a fragile state.
“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 pope said.
Along with a stop at St Peter’s to seek indulgences by walking through the basilica’s Holy Door, pilgrims are now also adding a stop at Gemelli, a 15-minute train ride from the Vatican.
Doctors this week said the pontiff was no longer in a critical, life-threatening condition, but they have continued to emphasise that his condition remained complex due to his age, lack of mobility and the loss of part of a lung as a young man.
They are issuing fewer medical bulletins as the pontiff has been on an upwards trajectory. An X-ray this week confirmed that the infection was clearing.
Francis has not been seen publicly since he was admitted to the hospital on February 14 after a bout of bronchitis that made it difficult for him to speak. Doctors soon added a diagnosis of double pneumonia and a polymicrobial infection.
People pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome where he is being treated (Andrew Medichini/AP)
The first three weeks of his time in hospital were marked by a rollercoaster of setbacks, including respiratory crises, mild kidney failure and a severe coughing fit.
Doctors in the most recent medical update on Saturday said they were working to reduce the pope’s nighttime reliance on the non-invasive ventilation mask, which will allow his lungs to work more.
Doctors underlined that while the pope’s condition is stable, he still requires to be in hospital for treatment along with physical and respiratory therapy, which are “showing further gradual improvements”, the Vatican said on Saturday in the first medical update in three days.
The next update will not be issued until the middle of next week, the Vatican said.