The Pope is participating in the Vatican’s week-long spiritual retreat from a Rome hospital as he continues his recovery from double pneumonia and looks ahead to the 12th anniversary of his election amid questions about what the future of his papacy might look like.
Francis followed the opening of the retreat by video conference on Sunday.
He could see and hear the Rev Roberto Pasolini, preacher of the papal household, but the priests, bishops and cardinals in the Vatican auditorium could not see or hear him.
The Rev Pasolini delivered a meditation on “The hope of eternal life”, a theme that was chosen well before Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a complex lung infection.
The retreat, which is an annual gathering that kicks off the Catholic Church’s solemn Lenten season leading to Easter, continues through the week.
The Vatican has said Francis would participate “in spiritual communion” with the rest of the hierarchy, from afar.
In its early update on Monday, the Vatican said Francis was resting after a quiet night.
At the time of his admission to hospital last month, the 88-year-old Pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, had what was then just a bad case of bronchitis.
The infection progressed into a complex respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia that has sidelined Francis for the longest period of his 12-year papacy and raised questions about the future.
He has now remained in stable condition for over a week, with no fever, respiratory crises and good oxygen levels in his blood for several days, doctors reported.
Doctors said that such stability was in itself a positive thing and showed he was responding well to therapy. But they kept his prognosis as “guarded,” meaning that he is not out of danger.
On Thursday, the Vatican will mark the 12th anniversary of Francis’ election, the first with the pope out of sight but still very much in charge.
In a sign Francis was still keeping his eye on things, the Vatican said he had been informed about the floods in his native Argentina and expressed his closeness to the affected population.
In addition, a Vatican cardinal close to Francis spoke out on Monday over some negative media reports that have circulated in his absence.
The Vatican development office released a letter written by Cardinal Michael Czerny to one of Francis’s close friends, the Argentine social justice activist Juan Grabois.
Mr Grabois had travelled to Rome to pray for Francis at Gemelli hospital, and some Italian media reported last month that he had tried to forcibly get into Francis’s 10th floor hospital suite, a claim he denied.
In the March 6 letter, Cardinal Czerny told Mr Grabois that Francis “knew of your presence in Rome and your daily vigils of prayer and spiritual solidarity at Gemelli Polyclinic and I’m sure this gave him a true comfort and support”.
“Additionally, I know that you join me in strongly repudiating the unfounded versions that have circulated in some media about alleged inappropriate behaviour in the hospital,” Cardinal Czerny wrote.