Pope Francis, who was hospitalized due to pneumonia, was discharged on the 23rd (local time) after five weeks.
On that day, according to foreign news outlets including Reuters, Pope Francis appeared on the balcony of the Gemelli Hospital, where he had been hospitalized, in a wheelchair and waved, saying, "Thank you all." The medical team decided on the discharge after assessing the Pope's recovery the previous day and urged him to take at least two months of rest and rehabilitation.
Eighty-eight-year-old Pope Francis was hospitalized at the Gemelli Hospital on the 14th of last month due to a serious respiratory illness. Pneumonia was confirmed in both lungs through a chest CT scan, and his condition continued to worsen. He faced multiple critical moments, including four episodes of shortness of breath. However, recently, his condition has shown significant improvement.
The Pope is set to return to the Vatican after 37 days. Although the Pope has had several health issues in the past, this is his longest hospitalization.
On that day, the Pope greeted the hospital staff before getting into a car to return to his residence at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. Inside the car, the Pope was seen wearing a respiratory assist device on his nose.
Dr. Luigi Carboni, deputy director of the Vatican Medical Service, explained that the Pope would need to continue taking oral medications to treat pneumonia and would also undergo high-flow oxygen therapy after his discharge.