During the nearly two-hour liturgy, Cardinal McElroy encouraged the faithful of his new archdiocese to be “pilgrims of hope in a wounded world.”

The pope's doctors confirmed that his life is no longer in imminent danger but said he will have to remain in the hospital for some time, without specifying how long.

The pope’s doctors report that given that his “clinical condition continues to be stable” and “the improvements of recent days,” they have removed “the guarded prognosis” that they have retained throughout these past 25 days.

Despite his confinement to his hospital room, where he is being treated for double pneumonia, Pope Francis delivered two important messages on Sunday.

Pope Francis' continued "gradual, slight improvement" is a sign that he is responding to the therapy he is receiving at Rome's Gemelli hospital, his doctors said.

Pope Francis had “a restful night and woke up shortly after 8 a.m.,” the Vatican said on Friday morning, March 7. It was his 22nd night in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.