Pope Francis blesses crowd, leaves hospital after battling pneumonia for 5 weeks

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 23, 2025 8:51 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

A anemic and frail Pope Francis near the infirmary connected Sunday aft surviving a five-week, life-threatening bout of pneumonia, giving a thumbs up to an adoring assemblage and taking a detour to spell commune astatine a Rome-area religion earlier returning location to the Vatican.

A motorcade carrying the 88-year-old Pope coiled its mode done airy Rome postulation connected Sunday greeting and kept going aft reaching Vatican City, wherever crowds of radical had lined the streets to invited him home.

Francis aboriginal arrived crossed municipality astatine St. Mary Major Basilica, wherever helium often goes to pray. Before leaving Gemelli hospital, Francis gave a thumbs up and acknowledged the assemblage aft helium was wheeled retired onto the balcony overlooking the main entrance.

"I spot this pistillate with the yellowish flowers. Brava!" a bushed and bloated-looking Francis said. He gave a anemic motion of the transverse earlier being wheeled backmost inside.

Chants of "Viva il papa!" and "Papa Francesco" erupted from the crowd, which included patients who had been wheeled extracurricular conscionable to drawback his little appearance.

His blessing came earlier helium began a two-month play of remainder and convalescence. People also gathered successful St. Peter's Square astatine the Vatican connected a superb Sunday greeting to spot the pontiff connected ample TV screens.

Doctors, who announced his planned merchandise connected Saturday evening, said helium should refrain from gathering with large groups of radical oregon exerting himself but that yet helium should beryllium capable to resume each of his mean activities.

His instrumentality home, aft the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest successful caller papal history, brought tangible alleviation to the Vatican and Catholic faithful who person been anxiously pursuing 38 days of aesculapian ups and downs.

"Today I consciousness a large joy," said Dr. Rossella Russomando, a doc from Salerno who didn't dainty Francis but was astatine Gemelli connected Sunday. "It is the objection that each our prayers, each the rosary prayers from each implicit the world, brought this grace."

Access to supplemental oxygen astatine home

No peculiar arrangements person been made astatine the Domus Santa Marta, the Vatican edifice adjacent to the basilica wherever Francis lives successful a two-room suite connected the 2nd floor.

The Pope will person entree to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour aesculapian attraction arsenic needed, though his idiosyncratic physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said helium hoped Francis would progressively request little and little assistance breathing arsenic his lungs recover.

While the pneumonia corruption has been successfully treated, Francis volition proceed to instrumentality oral medicine for rather immoderate clip to dainty the fungal corruption successful his lungs and proceed his respiratory and carnal physiotherapy.

"For 3 oregon 4 days he's been asking erstwhile helium tin spell home, truthful he's precise happy," Carbone said.

The Pope, who has chronic lung illness and had portion of 1 lung removed arsenic a young man, was admitted to Gemelli connected Feb. 14 aft a bout of bronchitis worsened.

2 humor transfusions 

Doctors archetypal diagnosed a analyzable bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection, and soon thereafter, pneumonia, successful some lungs. Blood tests showed signs of anemia, debased humor platelets and the onset of kidney failure, each of which aboriginal resolved aft 2 humor transfusions.

The astir superior setbacks began connected Feb. 28, erstwhile Francis experienced an acute coughing acceptable and inhaled vomit, requiring the usage of a noninvasive mechanical ventilation disguise to assistance him breathe.

He suffered 2 much respiratory crises a fewer days later, which required doctors to manually aspirate "copious" amounts of mucus from his lungs, astatine which constituent helium began sleeping with the ventilation disguise astatine nighttime to assistance his lungs wide the accumulation of fluids.

Francis was ne'er intubated and astatine nary constituent mislaid consciousness, doctors said.

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the aesculapian and surgical main astatine Gemelli who co-ordinated Francis's aesculapian team, said the Pope's life was astatine hazard twice, during the 2 acute respiratory crises.

Alfieri confirmed that Francis was inactive having occupation speaking owed to the harm to his lungs and respiratory muscles. But helium said specified problems were normal, particularly successful older patients, and predicted his dependable would yet instrumentality to normal.

No confirmed appointments for now

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni declined to corroborate immoderate upcoming events, including a scheduled assemblage connected April 8 with King Charles III oregon Francis's information successful Easter services astatine the extremity of the month. But Carbone said helium hoped Francis mightiness beryllium good capable to question to Turkey astatine the extremity of May to enactment successful an important ecumenical anniversary.

The Pope is besides returning to the Vatican successful the throes of a Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century solemnisation scheduled to gully much than 30 cardinal pilgrims to Rome this year. Francis has already missed respective Jubilee audiences and volition presumably miss respective more, but Vatican officials accidental his lack hasn't importantly impacted the numbers of expected pilgrims arriving.

Only St. John Paul II recorded a longer hospitalization successful 1981, erstwhile helium spent 55 days astatine Gemelli for insignificant country and attraction of an infection.