Pope Francis is poised to make his first public appearance in more than five weeks, greeting people from the window of his hospital room where he is recovering from pneumonia in both lungs.
The pontiff, 88, wants to come to the window of his room at Rome’s Gemelli hospital after midday prayers on Sunday to give the greeting and blessing, the Vatican said in a statement today.
Francis has been seen once since being admitted to hospital on 14 February, in a photo shared by the Vatican last week in which he was praying in the hospital’s chapel. He was diagnosed with a respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia, suffering several breathing crises before his medics said he was no longer in imminent danger, on 10 March.
The Vatican said yesterday that his overall health situation remained stable, with slight improvements as he continues respiratory and physical physiotherapy.
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, who leads the Vatican’s doctrinal office, said yesterday that the pope is “doing very well” but that the high-flow oxygen treatment “dries everything out” and that the pontiff “needs to relearn to speak”.
In early March, the Vatican released a brief audio of Francis thanking well-wishers, with his voice sounding breathless and difficult to understand.
“But his overall physical condition is as it was before,” Fernández said during the presentation of a new book by Francis on poetry.
Fernández added that “a new stage” was opening in the 12-year papacy of Francis and that he expects some surprises from the pontiff when he’s discharged from hospital.
It is unclear when that will be. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St Peter’s Basilica, said last week that it was possible the pope could recover in time to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla at an audience scheduled for 8 April.
Despite his health challenges, on some days Francis has continued to lead the Vatican from his hospital room, including approving individuals for sainthood.
Last week, he wrote a letter to the editor of the daily national newspaper Corriere della Sera reiterating his appeal for peace and disarmament, while stressing the importance of communication in resolving conflict. “We must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth,” he wrote.
Francis is prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed while training to be a priest in his native Argentina.
He has suffered ill health in recent years and has often alluded to resigning if bad health prevents him from doing his job.
Speculation over an imminent resignation was vehemently dismissed last week by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state.