Pope Francis makes 1st public appearance in five weeks, returns to the Vatican

Pope Francis returned to the Vatican Sunday morning for the first time since being hospitalized five weeks ago. 

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, using a wheelchair and wearing nasal tubes for oxygen, exited Rome's Gemmlli Hospital and was escorted to the Vatican by a convoy of police vehicles. The convoy stopped at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where the Pope often visits, and delivered a bouquet of flowers to be placed in front of the Salus populi Romani icon. 

Before being discharged from the hospital, the 88-year-old pontiff made his first public appearance since Feb. 14 after surviving a severe case of pneumonia that doctors said twice threatened his life.

He offered a Sunday blessing and commented on world affairs. The Vatican's broadcaster also read in English a statement from the pontiff issued by the Holy See Press Office. 

In it, Pope Francis said he was "saddened by the resumption of heavy Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip, causing many deaths and injuries." 

"I call for an immediate halt to the weapons and for the courage to resume dialogue so that all hostages may be released, and a final ceasefire reached," the pontiff wrote. "In the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian situation is again very serious and requires urgent commitment from the conflicting parties and the international community."

The pope said he was pleased Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the final text of the peace agreement, "and I hope that it may be signed as soon as possible and thus may contribute to establishing lasting peace in the South Caucuses."

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"You are continuing to pray for me with great patience and perseverance. Thank you very much. I pray for you too. And together let's pray for an end to wars and for peace, especially in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Francis wrote. "May the Virgin Mary keep you and continue to accompany us on our journey towards Easter."

A large crowd gathered at the main entry piazza of Gemelli Hospital, including patients wheeled outside to see him in person. The pope, seated in a wheelchair, waved from the balcony and smiled. 

The pope briefly spoke from a microphone, acknowledging a woman in the crowd holding up yellow flowers for him. Doctors have said his voice has been weakened by his illness. 

The Holy Father gave a thumbs up and made the sign of the cross to the crowd. Francis was subsequently discharged from the hospital and will return to the Vatican to begin at least two months of rest, rehabilitation and convalescence. 

His discharge comes after 38 days of medical ups and downs that raised the prospect of a papal resignation or funeral. 

Francis began his written message by telling the faithful that the parable in this Sunday's Gospel "tells us about the patience of God, who urges us to make our life a time of conversion." 

"Jesus uses the image of a barren fruit tree which has not born the anticipated fruit and which nevertheless the farmer does not want to cut down. He wants to fertilize it again in that it may bear fruit in the future, and this patient farmer is the Lord who works the soil of our lives with care and waits confidently for our return to Him," the pope wrote. "In this long period of my hospitalization, I've had the opportunity to experience the Lord's patience, which I also see reflected in the tireless care of the doctors and healthcare workers, as well as in the care and hopes of the relatives of the sick. This trusted patience anchored in God's unfailing love is indeed necessary in our lives, especially when facing the most difficult and painful situations." 

Doctors, who announced his planned release at a Saturday evening news conference, have said the Holy Father 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. It was Francis' longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest in recent papal history. 

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At the Vatican, on the third Sunday of the Lenten season awaiting Easter, pilgrims flocked as they have all year to St. Peter’s Basilica to participate in the 2025 Holy Year. They swarmed St. Peter’s Square and progressed through the Holy Door in groups, while big TV screens in the square were turned on to broadcast Francis’ hospital greeting live. 

No special arrangements have been made at the Domus Santa Marta, the Vatican hotel next to the basilica, where Francis lives in a two-room suite on the second floor, according to the AP. Francis will have access to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, though his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said he hoped Francis would progressively need less and less assistance breathing as his lungs recover.

While the pneumonia infection has been successfully treated, Francis will continue to take oral medication for quite some time to treat the fungal infection in his lungs and continue his respiratory and physical physiotherapy.

"For three or four days he’s been asking when he can go home, so he’s very happy," Carbone said.

Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the medical and surgical chief at Gemelli who coordinated Francis’ medical team, stressed that not all patients who develop such a severe case of double pneumonia survive, much less are released from the hospital. He said Francis’ life was at risk twice, during the two acute respiratory crises, and that the pope at the time understandably lost his typical good sense of humor. 

"But one morning we went to listen to his lungs and we asked him how he was doing. When he replied, ‘I’m still alive,’ we knew he was OK and had gotten his good humor back," he said.

The Holy Father was never intubated and never lost consciousness, Alfieri said.

Alfieri confirmed that Francis was still having trouble speaking due to the damage to his lungs and respiratory muscles. But he said such problems were normal, especially in older patients, and predicted his voice would eventually return to normal.

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, declined to confirm any upcoming events, including a scheduled audience on April 8 with King Charles III or Francis’ participation in Easter services at the end of the month. But Carbone said he hoped Francis might be well enough to travel to Turkey at the end of May to participate in an important ecumenical anniversary.

Francis is also returning to the Vatican in the throes of a Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century celebration scheduled to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome this year. The pope has already missed several Jubilee audiences and will presumably miss several more, but Vatican officials say his absence hasn't significantly impacted the numbers of expected pilgrims arriving.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.