Pope Francis makes first public appearance in five weeks, ahead of leaving hospital
Topic:Religious Leaders
11m ago11 minutes agoSun 23 Mar 2025 at 11:11am
Pope Francis' first public appearance in five weeks
(Reuters: Photo/Yara Nardi )
Pope Francis made his first public appearance in more than five weeks, waving from a balcony at Rome's Gemelli hospital before his expected discharge from the facility on Sunday.
Pope Francis, who has been battling pneumonia for more than five weeks, will need a further two months of rest at the Vatican, his medical team has said.
Pope Francis gestures a wave outside his hospital window
Pope Francis gestures during his first public appearance in five weeks, on the day he is set to be discharged from Gemelli Hospital (Reuters: Photo/Yara Nardi)
Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that became the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.
pope
Pope Francis seen celebrating the Holy Mass earlier this week. (Supplied: The Vatican )
While Francis will return to the Vatican on Sunday, his doctors said it would take "a lot of time" for his aging body to fully heal.
They said they had prescribed the pope two months of repose, and had advised him against taking any meetings with large groups, or that require special effort.
"The recommendation for a period of convalescence of at least two months is very important," Sergio Alfieri, head of the pope's medical team, told the press conference.
Francis, who was fighting double pneumonia, suffered four acute attacks of what the Vatican called "respiratory crises" during his time in hospital.
A nun prays outside Pope Francis’s hospital near a statue of the late Pope John Paul II
A nun holds a rosary as she prays near the statue of late Pope John Paul II at the Gemelli Hospital where Pope Francis is admitted for a treatment, in Rome, Italy, March 22, 2025. (Reuters: Guglielmo Mangiapane)
Alfieri said that two of the crises had been critical, with the pope "in danger of his life".
The pontiff no longer has pneumonia, but is also not completely healed from a "complex" infection involving several microorganisms, said the doctor.
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Posted11m ago11 minutes agoSun 23 Mar 2025 at 11:11am, updated1m ago1 minutes agoSun 23 Mar 2025 at 11:21am
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