MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pope sends message to the faithful

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” the Pope said in Spanish with a hoarse voice

The Vatican Thursday released an audio message in St. Peter's Square at 9 pm local time from Pope Francis, who is hospitalized at Rome's Gemelli clinic for a case of bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. The Pontiff thanked the faithful for their prayers, marking his first public communication in weeks. Speaking in Spanish with a hoarse voice, the Pope expressed gratitude and extended blessings.

Meanwhile, physicians said his condition was stable despite the latest respiratory complications, for which he continues using supplemental oxygen at night. Doctors explained that a “significant amount of endobronchial mucus” caused the Argentine-born Pope's airways to constrict.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square,” Francis said. “I accompany you from here,” he said. “May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.”

Vatican sources did not confirm when the message from the 88-year-old former Archbishop of Buenos Aires Pope was exactly recorded.

Thursday's rosary prayer for Pope Francis' health was different given the “beautiful message, a beautiful gift,” as Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime leading the prayer said.