Pope Francis celebrates the Holy mass of the Epiphany in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. AFP file photo

Vatican said that Pope Francis’s condition is stable with a chest X-ray confirming improvements compared to previous days.

“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father have remained stationary (stable), within the complexity of the general picture,” according to  statement from a medical bulletin.

“The chest X-ray carried out Tuesday confirmed radiologically the improvements registered in previous days, the 88-year-old pontiff nears one month in hospital with pneumonia,” it said in a medical bulletin.

The Argentine pope, who on Thursday marks 12 years as head of the Catholic Church, has been in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14.

He was for a time reported to be in a critical condition.

But in the past week his state has improved, with the Vatican indicating Monday he was out of immediate danger, raising the possibility of his return home.

Francis continues to receive high-flow oxygen during the day through a cannula, a plastic tube that tucks into his nose, and wears an oxygen mask while he sleeps at night, Wednesday’s statement said.

On Wednesday morning he joined spiritual exercises — prayers and meditations — held at the Vatican via video link, without being seen, as in previous days.

He spent the rest of the day in prayer, rest and physiotherapy, the Vatican said.