Pope Francis receives cake and glad tidings as he spends anniversary in hospital

Pope Francis has marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate in hospital as he received positive medical news on his recovery, a cake and hundreds of messages wishing him well.

He spent the morning in physiotherapy, followed Lenten spiritual exercises of the Roman curia and stopped to pray at the chapel in the Gemelli Hospital, where he has been under treatment for a complex lung infection since February 14, Vatican sources said.

In the afternoon, he received a cake from hospital staff.

A chest X-ray has confirmed improvements in his condition, the Vatican said on Wednesday, two days after doctors said he was no longer in imminent danger of death.

The latest medical bulletin said the 88-year-old’s condition remained stable but indicated a complex picture considering his overall fragility, which includes his age, limited mobility often requiring a wheelchair, and the removal of part of a lung as a young man. No medical updates were issued on Thursday.

Francis was elected on March 13 2013 as the 266th pontiff — and the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope.

The anniversary is a public holiday at the Vatican but no special commemorations were held. A Mass was held in his honour later at the Argentine church in Rome.

Francis received hundreds of drawings and messages from children and young people around the globe wishing him a full recovery, the Vatican said.

Gemelli Hospital, about a 15-minute train ride from the Vatican, has become a stop for pilgrims visiting Rome as part of Jubilee Year celebrations.

John Paul II, who spent 55 days in Gemelli – in the longest hospital stretch by a pope to date – used to quip that it was “Vatican III” after the Vatican itself and Castel Gandolfo, long used as a papal retreat by popes until Francis.

“It’s a sort of a seat of fragility, from where he continues his ministry,” Cardinal Marcello Semeraro was quoted as saying in L’Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, on Thursday.

The newspaper underlined that Francis is the first pope, at least in modern history, to spend the anniversary of his pontificate in hospital.

Francis has this week been following a Lenten spiritual retreat that has been a mainstay of his papacy, with updates on his condition omitting reference to work.

He continues to receive high flows of oxygen through nasal tubes during the day and a non-invasive mechanical mask to aid his rest at night. He also is undergoing physical therapy, key to avoiding further repercussions from his hospital stay.

The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave, which was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned.

While Francis has praised Benedict’s humility in stepping down and said he might follow in his footsteps, more recently he has said the papacy is a job for life.

Another milestone comes on Friday when Francis marks four weeks in hospital.