Pope Francis is making his first public appearance in five weeks before being discharged on Sunday 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 plans to offer a Sunday blessing from the 10th-floor papal suite at Rome’s Gemelli hospital. After saying goodbye to hospital staff, he is to return to the Vatican to begin at least two months of rest, rehabilitation and convalescence during which time doctors have said he should refrain from meeting in big groups or exerting himself.
But Francis’ personal doctor, Dr. Luigi Carbone, told a hastily arranged press conference on Saturday evening that the pope eventually should be able to resume all his normal activities as long as he maintains the slow and steady progress he has registered to date.
His return home, after the longest hospitalisation of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest in recent papal history, brought tangible relief to both the Vatican and Catholic faithful who have been anxiously following 38 days of medical ups and downs and wondering if Francis would make it.
Pope is happy to go home
No special arrangements have been made at the Domus Santa Marta, the Vatican hotel next to St. Peter’s Basilica where Francis lives in a two-room suite on the second floor. Francis will have access to supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, though 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.
Two life-threatening crises
The Argentine pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened.
Doctors first diagnosed a complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection and soon thereafter, pneumonia in both lungs. Blood tests showed signs of anaemia, low blood platelets and the onset of kidney failure, all of which later resolved after two blood transfusions.
The most serious setbacks began on Feb. 28, when Francis experienced an acute coughing fit and inhaled vomit, requiring the use of a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe. He suffered two more respiratory crises a few days later, which required doctors to manually aspirate “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs, at which point he began sleeping with the ventilation mask at night to help his lungs clear the accumulation of fluids.
He was never intubated and at no point lost consciousness. Doctors reported he always remained alert and cooperative, though they say he has probably lost a bit of weight given a natural loss of appetite.
‘I’m still alive!'
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, 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.
“When he was in really bad shape, it was difficult that he was in good spirits,” Alfieri said. “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.”
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 elderly patients, and that his voice was making good progress coming back. He predicted it would eventually return to normal.
Over the past two weeks, Francis has stabilised and registered slight improvements. He no longer needs to wear the ventilation mask at night and is cutting back his reliance on high flows of supplemental oxygen during the day.
No confirmed appointments for now
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.
Francis released an audio message thanking people for their prayers on March 6 and the Vatican distributed a photo of him on March 16. But Sunday’s blessing marks the first live appearance since Francis was admitted.
Only St. John Paul II recorded a longer hospitalisation in 1981 when he spent 55 days at Gemelli for minor surgery and treatment of an infection.
