Cindy Wooden

Pope Francis no longer needs the “noninvasive mechanical ventilation” he has used most nights since experiencing a breathing “crisis” Feb. 28, his doctors reported in a bulletin released by the Vatican press office March 19.

For the first time since Pope Francis was hospitalized in mid-February, the Vatican press office released a photograph of him March 16; the image shows him concelebrating Mass that morning in the chapel of his suite of rooms at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

Four weeks after Pope Francis was hospitalized and one day after the 12th anniversary of the pope’s election, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, celebrated a Mass for the pope with ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.

Pope Francis’ condition continues to be stable and a chest X-ray “confirmed the improvements recorded in the previous days,” his doctors said, but without saying his double pneumonia had cleared up completely.

As Pope Francis prepared to spend the 12th anniversary of his election at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, people at the Vatican and around the world were responding to his most frequent personal request.