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Pope Francis first publicly appeared on Sunday after spending more than five weeks in the hospital, where he survived a serious case of pneumonia, which doctors said twice threatened the life of the Roman Catholic Church.
The 88-year-old PontiF offered Sunday’s blessing from Gemelli Roman Hospital. The Vatican Emitter also read a statement from Pontiif in English, issued by Press Office Holy See.
In it, Pope Francis said he was “bereaved by the continuation of heavy Israeli bombing on the gaza zone, causing many deaths and injuries.”
“I call for the current stop of weapons and the courage to continue the dialogue so that all the tals can be published and has reached a final break,” Pontiff wrote. “In the Gaza belt, the humanitarian situation is again very serious and requires an urgent commitment to conflicting parties and international communities.”
The Pope said that Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the final text of the Peace Agreement, “and I hope it may be signed as soon as possible and can contribute to the establishment of permanent peace in the southern MPs.”
“You continue to pray for me with great patience and perseverance. Thank you very much. I ask for you too. And together, we pray for the end of the wars and for peace, especially in the tortured Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Mjanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” French wrote. “May the Virgin Mary hold you and continue to follow us on our path to Easter.”
The big crowd gathered at the main entrance of Piazza from Gemelli Hospital, including patients caught outside to see it personally. The Pope waved from the balcony and smiled, briefly looking at the microphone, although the doctors said his voice weakened due to his illness. The Holy Father gave the sign of the Cross to Gomili. Francis was then fired from the hospital and will return to the Vatican to start at least two months of rest, rehabilitation and renewal.
Pope Francis should be fired from the hospital on Sunday: doctors
Pope Francis Gesto during his first public appearance at five weeks, on the day he will be discharged from Gemelli Hospital, in Rome, Italy, March 2, 2025. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)
His discharge comes after 38 days of medical ups and downs that have increased the possibility of papal resignation or funeral.
The doctors, who announced a planned edition at a press conference on Saturday, said that the Holy Father should refrain from meeting with large groups of people or striving, but should eventually be able to continue all their usual activities. It was Francis’s longest hospitalization of his 12-year-old papacy and the second longest in the recent history of the Pope.
In the Vatican, the third Sunday of Lent, waiting for Easter, the pilgrims poured as well as the whole year at St. Peter’s Basilica to participate in the Holy Year 2025. They ran into St. Peter’s Square and progressed through the Holy Gate in groups, while the large TV screens on the square were involved in the broadcast of the Franciscan Live Hospital, according to Associated Press.
No special arrangements were carried out at the Domus Santa Marta Hotel, the Vatican Hotel next to the Basilica, where Francis lives in a two -bedroom apartment on the second floor, according to AP. Francis will have access to additional oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, although his personal doctor, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said that he hoped that Francis would progressively need less and less breathing while his lungs were recovering.
While the pneumonia infection has been successfully treated, Francis will still take oral drugs for a long time to treat fungal infection in the lungs and continue respiratory and physical physiotherapy.
“For three or four days he asked when he could go home, so he’s very happy,” Carbone said.
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, a medical and surgical head of Gemelli who coordinated the Francis medical team, stressed that not all patients who develop such a serious double pneumonia, are even less released from the hospital, have survived. He said that Francis’ life was in danger twice, during two acute respiratory crises, and that the Pope at that time was understandably lost his typical good sense of humor.
King Charles III. Meet Pope Francis during a visit to the Vatican next month
“But one morning we went to listen to his lungs and asked him how he was going. When he replied,” I’m still alive, “we knew he was well and brought back his good humor,” he said.
The Holy Father has never been intubated and has never lost consciousness, Alfieri said.
Alfieri confirmed that Francis still had problems with a distance due to the damage to the lungs and respiratory muscles. But he said such problems were normal, especially in older patients, and predicted that his voice would eventually return to normal.
The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, refused to confirm any upcoming events, including the scheduled audience on April 8 with the end of April King Charles III or Francis’s participation in Easter services. But Carbone said he hoped that Francis would be good enough to travel to Turkey at the end of May to participate in an important ecumenical anniversary.
Francis is also returning to the Vatican in the Holy Year Forest, the celebration of the once and every quarter is scheduled to attract more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome this year. The Pope has already missed several jubilee audiences and will probably miss a few more, but Vatican officials say his absence has not significantly influenced the number of expected pilgrims to come.
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Only St. John Paul II recorded longer hospitalization in 1981, when he spent 55 days in Gemelli for less surgery and treatment of infection.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
