Pope Francis blesses the crowd, leaving hospital for 5 weeks after fighting pneumonia

A weak and weak pope of Francis left the hospital on Sunday after surviving five weeks of life-threatening pneumonia, expressing praise to a worshipper and detoured by a church in the Roman region before returning to the Vatican.

A convoy with the 88-year-old pope was injured in light traffic in Rome on Sunday morning and continued on after arriving at Vatican City, where Vatican City crowd lined up on the street to welcome him home.

Francis later arrived at the town of Major St. Mary’s Cathedral, where he often prayed. Before Francis left Gemelli Hospital, Francis gave a thumbs up and admitted the crowd after he was taken to the balcony overlooking the balcony behind the main entrance.

“I saw this woman with yellow flowers. Brava!” said Francis, a tired and swollen appearance. Before being returned inside, he gave a faint sign of the cross.

“Papa Francesco” erupted from the hymn crowd of “Viva Il Papa!”, which included patients taken outside just to capture his brief appearance.

His blessings were before he began his two months of rest and recovery. People also gathered on a glorious Sunday morning in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican and saw the Pope on a large TV screen.

The doctor announced his plan on Saturday night, saying he should avoid meetings with large numbers of people or exert efforts, but eventually he should be able to resume all normal activities.

During his 12-year-old pope and most recent papal history, he returned home to bring tangible relief to the Vatican and Catholics who have been anxious after 38 days of medical ups and downs.

“I’m very happy today,” said Dr. Rossella Russomando, a doctor in Salerno, who didn’t treat Francis but was in Gemelli on Sunday. “It’s all our prayers, and all the rosary prayers around the world bring this kind of grace.”

Get supplemental oxygen at home

No special arrangements have been made at the Vatican hotel Domus Santa Marta, next to the cathedral, and Francis lives in a two-bedroom suite on the second floor.

The pope will receive supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical services as needed, although his personal doctor, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said he hopes Francis will gradually need more and more aid breathing as his lungs recover.

Although the pneumonia infection has been successfully treated, Francis will continue to take oral medications to treat his lung fungal infection and continue his respiratory and physical therapy.

“For three to four days, he kept asking when he could go home, so he was happy,” Caborn said.

The pope suffered from chronic lung disease, and one of his lungs was removed when he was young.

2 Blood transfusion

Doctors first diagnosed complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory infections, and shortly afterwards, pneumonia was in both lungs. Blood tests showed signs of anemia, low platelets and renal failure, and all of them were resolved after two transfusions.

The worst setback began on February 28, when Francis experienced an acute cough and inhaled vomit and needed a non-invasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.

A few days later, he suffered two more respiratory crises, which required the doctor to manually inhale “large amounts of” mucus from his lungs, when he began to sleep with a ventilated mask at night to help his lungs clear the accumulation of fluid.

The doctor said Francis had never been intubated and would never lose consciousness.

Gemelli’s medical and surgical director Sergio Alfieri coordinated the medical and surgical director of Francis’ medical team, saying the pope’s life was in danger twice during two acute respiratory crises.

Alfieri confirmed that Francis is still in trouble due to damage to his lungs and respiratory muscles. But he said such a problem is normal, especially among older patients, and predicted that his voice will eventually return to normal.

Not confirmed date yet

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to confirm any upcoming activities, including scheduled audiences on April 8, Charles III or Francis’ participation in Easter service at the end of this month. But Carbone said he hopes Francis can be very good and can travel to Türkiye for its important anniversary by the end of May.

The pope also returned to the Vatican with the pain of the holy year, a once-year quarterly celebration that was scheduled to send more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome this year. Francis has missed several Jubilee audiences, probably several, but Vatican officials say his absence has not significantly impacted the expected number of pilgrims.

Only St. John Paul II had a longer hospitalization in 1981, when he spent 55 days of minor surgery and treatment for infections in Gemelli.