Pope Francis appeared in public for the first time in weeks on Sunday, greeting the crowds of a wheelchair in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.
It was the first time that Francis appeared in public since he went briefly to the crowds when he was discharged from the hospital on March 23. The Pope suffered a double pneumonia attack that left him hospitalized for five weeks.
Francis made the visit not announced near the end of the Mass and delivered a brief greeting, all while receiving oxygen through his nose.
“Happy Sunday to all,” Francis said. “Thank you so much.”
Pope Francis makes the first public appearance in five weeks
Pope Francis listens to his secretary when he appears to the faithful at the end of a mass held by the Monsignor Rino Fisichella (not in the photo) on the occasion of the jubilee of the sick in the Plaza de San Pedro in the Vatican on April 6, 2025. (Riccardo de Luca/Anadolu through Getty Images)
Medical staff provides updates on the condition of Pope Francis
The Vatican also published a written message from Francis that marks Sunday Mass, which focused especially on health workers.
“I ask the Lord that this touch of his love could reach everyone who suffers and encourage those who take care of them,” the text said.
Doctors who supervise Francis's attention during his stay at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome say they briefly considered the Pope's treatment due to his condition.
The medical director, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, reported the scenes on February 28 when the 88 -year -old man suffered an inhaled and inhaled vomit, which caused the staff to have to clear their airways and then put a non -invasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.
Pope Francis appears in the Plaza de San Pedro for the first time in weeks. (Riccardo de Luca/Anadolu through Getty Image)
“For the first time, I saw tears in the eyes of some of the people around him. The people who, I understood during this hospitalization period, loved him sincerely, like a father. We all knew that the situation had worsened and there was a risk that he would not succeed,” Alfieri told the newspaper Corriere Della Sera.
“We had to choose whether to stop it and let it go or force it and try with all possible drugs and therapies, running the high risk of damaging other organs. And in the end we take this path,” according to the reports, he added.
Pope Francis greets believers when he leaves Cercle quotes after a meeting with Luxembourg's prime minister during a four -day apostolic trip in Luxembourg and Belgium, in the city of Luxembourg, on September 26, 2024. (Simon Wohlfahrt/AFP/Getty)
Alfieri told the newspaper that Francis “delegated all kinds of health decision to Massimiliano Strappetti, his assistant medical care personnel who knows the desires of the Pope perfectly.”
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“Try everything, we will not give up,” Alfieri reminded Strappetti staff at the hospital. “That's what we all think too. And nobody surrendered.”
