Pope Francis will be discharged from the hospital on Sunday — five weeks after he was admitted for treatment for double pneumonia, the doctors treating the pontiff announced Saturday. He will return to the Vatican, but doctors said he will need at least two months of rest and rehabilitation after leaving Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.
The 88-year-old pontiff has been battling double pneumonia in both lungs after he was admitted to the hospital on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis that made it difficult for him to speak. He has remained out of public view since then.
His doctors held an in-person briefing on Saturday evening, the first in about a month.
“The good news is that the pope will be discharged tomorrow,” Gemelli medical director Dr. Sergio Alfieri said. “During his hospitalization, he presented two critical episodes during which the Holy Father’s life was in danger. He subsequently made slow but progressive improvements.”
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Alfieri said Francis will be discharged in stable condition and will continue medication “for a long time and observe at least two months of rest.”
Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal doctor, said the discharge is a “period of convalescence.”
“At the Vatican, we have prepared the necessary assistance and we are ready to have him back at Santa Marta,” he said, adding, “We hope that within a brief period, he can go back to his normal activity.”
Earlier Saturday, the Vatican said that Francis will make his first public appearance in five weeks and “intends to wave and offer blessing” from the hospital after the Angelus prayers.
The pope has missed the Angelus prayers for five straight weeks for the first time in his papacy. The Angelus prayers are normally recited by the pope every Sunday from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square to the gathered faithful.
The current hospitalization is the longest of Francis’ papacy. It has been marked by a rollercoaster of setbacks, including respiratory crises, mild kidney failure, and a severe coughing fit, which forced doctors to put Francis on a mechanical ventilation mask. At no point did he lose consciousness, and doctors reported he was alert and cooperative.
The Argentine pope is prone to respiratory illnesses in the winter. He had part of one lung removed as a young man.
Though out of public view for weeks, the pope shared a recorded message in early March thanking people for their prayers for his recovery. The message – which highlighted Francis’ weak and labored voice – was played in St. Peter’s Square for the faithful gathered for a nightly recitation of the rosary prayer. The Vatican also released a photo of the pope at prayer.
During his hospital stay, the church celebrated the 12th anniversary of Francis’ papacy with a Mass in his honor.
Pope Francis has been adamant about sharing an unprecedented level of detail when it comes to his health, going against centuries of secrecy surrounding pontiffs’ medical conditions.
