• Pope Francis was photographed for the first time since being hospitalised for pneumonia in February.
• The Vatican stated he concelebrated mass at the Gemelli Polyclinic, indicating improvement.
• The pope acknowledged his ‘fragile” health in an angelus message, but his condition is stable.

The Vatican on Sunday released the first photograph of Pope Francis since the 86-year-old pontiff was admitted to hospital more than a month ago 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 the pope’s 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 10th 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 because 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.

However, he has improved steadily in the past week. In a medical bulletin on Saturday, the Vatican said his condition continued to be stable, although he still required therapy to be administered from the hospital.

In an angelus message to the faithful on Sunday published by the Vatican, the pope addressed his health, sharing that he was “fragile” and “facing a period of trial”.

- Agence France-Presse