Pope Francis has made his first public appearance in five weeks before being discharged from the hospital, where he survived a severe case of pneumonia that twice threatened his life and raised the prospect of a papal resignation or funeral.
The 88-year-old pontiff waved and gave a big thumbs up as he said “Thank you, thank you, everyone,” to those who gathered below his window to deliver a Sunday blessing from Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
A huge crowd gathered at the main entry piazza, including patients wheeled outside to see him as a microphone was held up for him.
Using a wheelchair, as he has for several years, the pope smiled and waved at a group of well-wishers gathered outside below.
The pope, whose face looked swollen, appeared only for a few moments. He spoke briefly, with a feeble voice, to thank one of the members of the crowd below, who had brought yellow flowers.
After saying goodbye to hospital staff, Francis is to return to the Vatican to begin at least two months of rest, rehabilitation and convalescence.
Doctors, who announced his planned release at a Saturday evening news conference, have said he should refrain from meeting with big groups of people or exerting himself, but that eventually he should be able to resume all his normal activities.
Francis had only been seen by the public once before during his hospital stay, in a photo the Vatican released last week, showing the pontiff at prayer in a hospital chapel.
In the moments before the pontiff’s appearance on Sunday, the crowd of hundreds of well-wishers called out for the pope, chanting “Francis, Francis, Francis”.
His return home, after the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest in recent papal history, brought tangible relief to the Vatican and Catholic faithful who have been anxiously following 38 days of medical ups and downs and wondering if Francis would make it.
But the pontiff was “very happy” to hear his health had improved sufficiently for him to leave the Gemelli Hospital, one of the doctors, Sergio Alfieri, said yesterday.
But Pope Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, still faced a recovery period of “at least two months,” Dr Alfieri cautioned.
