People pray for Pope Francis in front of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, in Rome, Thursday, March 13, 2025, where the Pontiff is hospitalized since Friday, Feb. 14. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis marked the 12th anniversary of his pontificate Thursday in the hospital — the first pope to do so in modern church history — as he received increasingly positive medical news on his recovery, a cake and hundreds of messages wishing him well.