Cindy Wooden

As Pope Francis prepared to spend the 12th anniversary of his election at Rome's Gemelli hospital, people at the Vatican and around the world were responding to his most frequent personal request.

On his 21st day in Rome's Gemelli hospital, Pope Francis recorded a 27-second audio message thanking people for their prayers.

The journey of Lent "unfolds amid the remembrance of our fragility and the hope that, at the end of the road, the Risen Lord is waiting for us," Pope Francis wrote in his homily for Ash Wednesday.

Pope Francis' condition remained "stable" March 2, and he "did not require non-invasive mechanical ventilation, but only high-flow oxygen therapy," the Vatican said in its evening medical bulletin.

Pope Francis' "clinical condition remains critical but stable" and the "prognosis remains guarded," the Vatican's evening bulletin said Feb. 25.

Pope Francis' condition has shown a slight improvement, which, however, is still critical, the Vatican said.

While Pope Francis was hospitalized in Rome's Gemelli hospital, one of the cardinals closest to him traveled to Lebanon to demonstrate the pope's ongoing concern for refugees and for peace in the Middle East.

Pope Francis' condition remained "critical" the evening of Feb. 23, his doctors said, with blood tests showing "initial, mild renal insufficiency, at present under control."

While Italy's main news agency reported that Pope Francis' respiratory "crisis" had subsided, a Vatican source said he was still receiving supplemental oxygen by nasal cannula early Feb. 23.

Pope Francis experienced "an asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged magnitude, which also required the use of oxygen at high flows" Feb. 22, said the daily medical bulletin released by the Vatican.