Pope Francis has acknowledged the many well-wishes the 86-year-old has received while he’s being treated in a Rome hospital for a respiratory infection.

After widespread concern over the pontiff's health, the Vatican said he will attend the Easter mass. Francis was hospitalized just weeks after his tenth anniversary as the head of the Catholic Church.

The pope used his Easter message to pray for "the beloved Ukrainian people" and expressed his concern about recent tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. The pontiff was released from hospital only last week.

The 86-year-old pontiff capped his trip to Hungary with a final Mass in Budapest on a sunny spring morning, with thousands having gathered for the blessing. He told people to fight the "closed doors" of nationalism.

The pope reiterated his calls for welcoming migrants after a meeting with nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He will also lead an open-air mass outside parliament on Sunday.

Pope Francis, hospital ,check-up,Italian media

The spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics has suffered several health issues in the last year, but the pontiff is recovering well from his operation, the Vatican has said.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church is "better than before," a doctor said, after he underwent a hernia operation.

Comments Pope Francis made during a private discussion on a recent trip to Portugal criticizing the US Catholic Church, home to several of his more staunch opponents, have been made public in Italy.

With just over 1,400 Catholics, Mongolia is one of the smallest and newest Catholic communities in the world. Pope Francis makes the trip while also casting an eye toward China.

After a mass in Mongolia attended by some groups of Chinese Catholics, the pope told them to be "good Christians and good citizens."

At the end of his historic trip to the Buddhist nation, Pope Francis said the Catholic church is driven by faith to help the needy, and not as a way of attracting new converts.