Vatican City (AFP) — Pope Francis, who the Vatican said is responding well to treatment for pneumonia, thanked his doctors and healthcare workers on Sunday as he missed delivering a fourth straight Angelus prayer in person.

The 88-year-old, in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since 14 February, issued a written Angelus in which he thanked those who volunteer to help others in need, praising their “closeness and tenderness.”

“I, too experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and healthcare workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

“We need this, the ‘miracle of tenderness’ which accompanies those who are in adversity, bringing a little light into the night of pain,” he said in the text published by the Vatican.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics has spent time at the Gemelli before, notably for colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia operation in 2023.

This hospitalization has been more serious, however, with Francis suffering several respiratory crises, prompting fears the road to recovery would be long, or might force the elderly pontiff to resign.

On Saturday, the Vatican said the pope appeared finally to be responding well to treatment and had seen “a gradual, slight improvement,” marking several days without crises.

Though the pope does not have a fever, his doctors want to see more positive results “in the coming days” before giving a prognosis, an evening medical bulletin said.