Recently recovered from a bout of ill-health, Pope Francis marks the feast of the Immaculate Conception with a ceremony on the Piazza di Spagna in central Rome, where he is greeted by a substantial crowd of well-wishers and worshippers. The 86-year-old Argentine pontiff offers a prayer to the Virgin Mary in front of the statue of the Mother of God near the Spanish Steps, an annual tradition on what is a bank holiday in largely Catholic Italy. IMAGES