Pope Franciscus appears on balcony of hospital, first time since admission

Pope Francis has first appeared in public since he was admitted to lung problems on 14 February. From the balcony of the hospital he spoke to the audience for a short time. Shortly thereafter he left the hospital.

In his short message, the Pope expressed his gratitude for all the support and blessed the hundreds of believers who had gathered on the square in front of the hospital. Cries of “Viva il dad!” And “Dad Francesco” sounded from the crowd.

Look here what the pope said to the crowd:

The 88-year-old Pope has been in the Gemelli hospital in Rome since 14 February due to breathing problems due to a life-threatening pneumonia. The Vatican has since informed the press every day about his condition. It seemed several times that the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church was on the improvement, but the Vatican also wrote a number of times that he had had a relapse with acute breathing problems.

In the meantime, Francis has recovered from the double pneumonia, but not yet of all infections, reports the deputy director of the health care of the Vatican. The pope will return to Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City and needs two months to recover, is expected.

The Vatican shared a photo of the Pope last week since he was admitted to the hospital:

Despite his health problems, Francis continued to lead the Vatican on some days from his hospital room. Last week he repeated his call for peace and disarmament in a written message to an editor of the newspaper Corriere della Sera. “We have to disarm words, disarm spirits and disarm the earth,” he wrote.

Pope Francis had had to struggle with lung problems several times in his life. At the age of 21 he was given a pleury inflammation, so that some of one of his lungs had to be removed.

Francis has been admitted to the hospital several times in recent years. In March 2023, for example, he spent three nights in the hospital with bronchitis. His condition had not been as bad as in recent weeks.