Pope Francis shows ‘slight improvement’ during fourth week in hospital, Vatican says

Pope Francis shows ‘slight improvement’ during fourth week in hospital, Vatican says

The pope has been hospitalized since last month

Pope Francis shares first audio message of thanks since being hospitalized

Pope Francis thanked his well-wishers in a message taken from Rome's Gemelli hospital, which was shared in St Peter's Square at the Vatican. (Credit: Reuters)

Mexican painter Roberto Marquez places a painting of Pope Francis he made outside the Agostino Gemelli hospital in Rome, Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pope Francis waves to believers as he leaves the Cercle Cite after a meeting Luxembourg's prime minister during a four-day apostolic journey in Luxembourg and Belgium, in Luxembourg city on Sept. 26, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty)

The Pope has been hospitalized since Feb. 14 with pneumonia and a bronchial infection. Candles with the pictures of him are the laid under the statue of late Pope John Paul II in Rome on Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)