Vatican City, Mar 13, 2025 /
16:10 pm
Pope Francis marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate on Thursday from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he has been receiving treatment for pneumonia for nearly a month.
Hospital staff commemorated the occasion by presenting the 88-year-old pope with a cake decorated with candles. Additionally, he received hundreds of drawings, messages, and letters from children and well-wishers worldwide.
The Holy See Press Office told journalists that Pope Francis continued his medication regimen, motor physiotherapy, and high-flow oxygen therapy on Thursday morning. He participated in spiritual exercises and prayed in the hospital chapel.
In the afternoon, he followed the Roman Curia’s spiritual exercises via video link to the Paul VI Hall and continued respiratory therapy. His clinical condition remains stable yet complex, according to the Vatican, with ongoing “noninvasive mechanical ventilation” at night and high-flow oxygenation during the day.
Friday will mark one month since the pope’s hospitalization. During his hospital stay, the pope has experienced multiple episodes of acute respiratory failure in which his situation appeared critical. After weeks of treatment, the pope’s doctors indicated on Tuesday that the Holy Father is “no longer in immediate danger from the respiratory infection.”
A chest X-ray earlier this week indicated “a slight improvement” in Pope Francis’ lungs. The Vatican is currently not providing an estimate for when the pope may be discharged from the hospital.
At the age of 76, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th successor of St. Peter on March 13, 2013, taking the name Pope Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. He is the first Latin American pope and the first from the Jesuit order.
To mark the 12th anniversary of Francis’ pontificate, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will offer a Mass for the pope on Friday morning in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, attended by members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. The liturgy will be broadcast live via Vatican Media at 10:30 a.m. local time.
Catholics are invited to gather in St. Peter’s Square on Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. to pray the rosary for the pope’s recovery.
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees. She is the author of “Blessed Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers” (Ignatius, 2023), https://ignatius.com/carlo-acutis-sscap/.
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