ROME (AP) 鈥� said in a letter published Tuesday that his lengthy illness has helped make 鈥渕ore lucid鈥� to him the absurdity of war, as his top deputy rejected any suggestion of resignation and Buckingham Palace announced plans for an upcoming audience with Britain's King Charles III.
Italian daily Corriere della Sera published a letter to the editor from Francis, signed and dated March 14 from Rome's Gemelli hospital where the 88-year-old pontiff has been treated since Feb. 14 for a complex lung infection and double pneumonia.
In it, Francis renewed his call for diplomacy and international organizations to find a 鈥渘ew vitality and credibility.鈥� And he said that his own illness had also helped make some things clearer to him, including the 鈥渁bsurdity of war.鈥�
鈥淗uman fragility has the power to make us more lucid about what endures and what passes, what brings life and what kills,鈥� he wrote.
Responding to a letter from the newspaper鈥檚 editor-in-chief, Luciano Fontana, Francis also urged him and all those in the media to 鈥渇eel the full importance of words.鈥�
鈥淭hey are never just words: they are facts that shape human environments. They can connect or divide, serve the truth or use it for other ends,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淲e must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth.鈥�
The letter was published as Francis registered slight improvements in his treatment and as the Vatican No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, shot down any suggestion the pope might resign.
鈥淎bsolutely no,鈥� Parolin told journalists on Monday when asked if he and the pope had discussed a resignation. Parolin has visited Francis twice during his hospitalization, , and said he found Francis better than during his first Feb. 25 visit.
Also on Tuesday, Francis received a standing ovation from the Italian Senate, after Premier Giorgia Meloni sent her greetings and said 鈥渘ot just this chamber, but all of the Italian people鈥� wish the pope a full recovery 鈥渁s soon as possible.鈥�
Meloni, who was the first outsider to visit the pope after he was hospitalized, said that 鈥渆ven in a trying moment, his strength and guidance have been felt.鈥�
Francis for the second day spent some time off high flows of oxygen and used just ordinary supplemental oxygen delivered by a nasal tube, the Holy See press office said Tuesday. In addition, for the first time in several weeks he didn't use the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask at night at all, to force his lungs to work more.
While those amount to the Vatican isn鈥檛 yet providing any timetable on when he might be released. That said, Buckingham Palace announced Monday that King Charles III was on April 8 at the Vatican, assuming he is back and well enough.
Such state visits are always closely organized with Parolin's office. However, the Vatican press office on Tuesday declined to confirm the visit, noting that the Holy See only confirms papal audiences shortly before they happen.
The developments came as the Vatican released some details on the first photograph of Francis released since his hospitalization. The image, taken from behind, showed Francis sitting in his wheelchair in his private chapel in prayer without any sign of nasal tubes.
The photo, showing Francis wearing a Lenten purple stole, followed an audio message the pope recorded March 6 in which he thanked people for their prayers, .
Together, they suggested Francis is very much controlling how the public follows his illness to prevent it from turning into a spectacle. While many in the Vatican have held up St. John Paul II鈥檚 long and public battle with Parkinson鈥檚 disease and other ailments as a humble sign of his willingness to show his frailties, others criticized it as excessive and glorifying sickness.
The image certainly reassured some well-wishers who came to Gemelli to pray for Francis, who is recovering in the 10th-floor papal suite reserved for popes.
鈥淎fter a month of hospitalization, finally a photo that can assure us that his health conditions are better,鈥� said the Rev. Enrico Antonio, a priest from Pescara.
But Benedetta Flagiello of Naples, who was visiting her sister at Gemelli, wondered if the photo was even real.
鈥淏ecause if the pope can sit for a moment without a mask, without anything, why didn鈥檛 he look out the window on the 10th floor to be seen by everyone?鈥� she asked. 鈥淚f you remember our old pope (John Paul II), he couldn鈥檛 speak up, but he showed up.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Paolo Santalucia and Silvia Stellacci contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Nicole Winfield, The Associated Press
