Pope Francis will be discharged from hospital on Sunday, one of the doctors treating him has confirmed.
He will need two months of rest at the Vatican and full recovery will take “a lot of time” as he is not fully healed, they added on Saturday.
The 88-year-old pontiff was admitted to the hospital on 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment.
The Vatican said earlier on Saturday that Francis also planned to make his first appearance in more than five weeks on Sunday, offering a blessing from the window of his room at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital where he has been battling double pneumonia.
The pope has been seen by the public only once during his hospital stay, in a photo the Vatican released last week, showing the pontiff at prayer in a hospital chapel.
Francis wants to come to the hospital window around noon on Sunday to give a greeting and blessing, the Vatican said in its brief statement on Saturday.
The pope usually offers a weekly noon-time prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sundays, but he has not been able to do this since 9 February, before going to hospital.
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