Pope Francis has made his first public appearance in weeks following a health scare. He has now left the hospital to return to the Vatican. Appearing in a wheelchair and looking frail, the pontiff was still able to summon the strength to give a thumbs up and smile to his adoring followers.
The 88-year-old acknowledged the crowd after he was wheeled out onto the balcony overlooking the main entry of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where hundreds of people had gathered on a brilliant Sunday morning. He said: “I see this woman with the yellow flowers. Brava!”. Chants of “Viva il papa!” and “Papa Francesco” erupted from the crowd, which included patients who had been wheeled outside just to catch his brief appearance.
His blessing came before he was due to be released and return home to the Vatican for a two-month period of rest and convalescence.
Doctors, who announced his planned release at a Saturday evening news conference, said he should refrain from meeting with big groups of people or exerting himself, but that eventually he should be able to resume all his normal activities.
His return home, after the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest in recent papal history, brought tangible relief to the Vatican and Catholic faithful who have been anxiously following 38 days of medical ups and downs and wondering if Francis would make it.
“Today I feel a great joy,” said Dr. Rossella Russomando, a doctor from Salerno who didn’t treat Francis but was at Gemelli on Sunday. “It is the demonstration that all our prayers, all the rosary prayers from all over the world, brought this grace.”
At the Vatican Sunday, pilgrims flocked as they have all year to St. Peter’s Basilica to participate in the 2025 Holy Year.
They swarmed St. Peter’s Square and progressed through the Holy Door in groups, while big TV screens in the square were turned on to broadcast Francis’ hospital greeting live.
No special arrangements have been made at the Domus Santa Marta, the Vatican hotel next to the basilica where Francis lives in a two-room suite on the second floor.
Pope Francis will have access to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, though his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said he hoped Francis would progressively need less and less assistance breathing as his lungs recover.