Pope Francis gives a thumbs up gesture from his window at Gemelli Hospital in Rome during his first public appearance in weeks on Sunday, March 23, 2025. / Credit: Screenshot/Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 1, 2025 / 09:44 am (CNA).

Pope Francis shared on Monday that he has experienced the gift of Christian joy during the challenges of his current illness, as the Vatican says the pope’s condition has continued to improve after his monthlong stay in the hospital.

In a message to an Italian synodal assembly March 31, the pontiff said joy “is God’s gift — let us always remember it; it is not an easy joy, it does not come from convenient solutions to problems, it does not avoid the cross, but it springs from the certainty that the Lord never leaves us alone.”

“I have experienced this myself in hospitalization, and now in this time of convalescence,” he added. “Christian joy is reliance on God in every situation in life.”

In an April 1 update about the 88-year-old pontiff’s continued recovery from double pneumonia and other lung infections, the Holy See Press Office said Pope Francis’ lung infection, mobility, and voice continue to improve, with the pontiff concelebrating daily Mass every morning and working from his desk.

The pope’s clinical outlook remains “stable,” the Vatican said, with a recent chest X-ray showing small improvements in the lung infection. He continues to receive oxygen support via nasal tubes during the day, including high-flow oxygen at night and as needed, and can go short periods without the tubes.

Francis has received no visitors since his March 23 return to his Vatican apartment in the Santa Marta Guesthouse, where he receives 24-hour assistance from medical personnel.

The pontiff is expected to spend at least two months recuperating after passing 38 days inside the 10th-floor papal suite of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital — by far the longest hospitalization of his pontificate.

While the pope’s engagements with the public are canceled during his convalescence, he continues to release written missives, including the text for what was previously his weekly Wednesday morning audience, and a message to the participants in a synodal assembly of the Church in Italy.

Reflecting on Christian joy, the pope in his message emphasized joy’s accompanying and welcoming style, stating that “it is fulfilled in the folds of everyday life and in sharing.”

Italian Catholics are gathered in Rome from March 31 to April 3 for the second synodal assembly, the last part of a five-year process for the Church in Italy. Pope Francis asked the assembly’s participants to “continue to pray for me.”

On Tuesday, the pontiff named Cardinal Fabio Baggio, CS, the newest member of APSA, the office that oversees the real estate and financial portfolios of the Holy See.

He also appointed Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the synod, as his special envoy to a May 25 ceremony in Luxembourg for the closing celebrations of a Marian jubilee commemorating 400 years of devotion to the country’s patroness, Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted.

Pope Francis himself opened the year during a one-day visit to the country, the European Union’s second-smallest, on Sept. 26, 2024.