March 6 (UPI) — Pope Francis is recovering from pneumonia, and on Thursday made an audio recording that was broadcast to visitors in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers for my health from the Square,” Francis said in Spanish, the Vatican News reported.

“I accompany you from here,” he said. “May God bless you and the Virgin protect you. Thank you.”

The recorded message from the 88-year-old Pope was broadcast at 9 p.m. local time and was the first message he has made since he was hospitalized with double pneumonia in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14.

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Thousands of worshipers began congregating Feb. 24 in St. Peter’s Square and joined with cardinals in Rome to recite the Holy Rosary on behalf of Pope Francis.

Officials with the Vatican released Pope Francis’ recorded address, but did not say when it was recorded.

Doctors said a “significant amount of endobronchial mucus” caused Pope Francis’ airways to constrict, which made it hard for him to breathe, NBC News reported.

The Vatican had reported Tuesday he was using supplemental oxygen to help him breath and wore a ventilation mask at night.

Pope Francis remained hospitalized on Ash Wednesday this week, but received ashes and Holy Communion for the start of Lent.

Meanwhile, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis filled in for Pope Francis to lead celebrations at the Vatican.

The Pope has had prior respiratory problems and had part of one lung removed while he was a young man in Argentina.

The current hospitalization is the longest the Pope has required during his dozen years in the papacy.