Surgeon Sergio Alfieri will speak to a journalist on Saturday at the entrance hall of Agostino Gemeri Polynic in Rome. Gregorio Borgia/AP Hide Caption
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Gregorio Borgia/AP
Pope Francis will leave the hospital on Sunday, his medical team said.
After spending more than five weeks in the hospital, doctors said his life-threatening respiratory illness would be treated normally and require two months of rest and care at the Vatican.
Francis, 88, was admitted to Gemeri Hospital in Rome on February 14th, and suffered a severe respiratory infection that caused pneumonia in both lungs.
“Today, we’re happy to say he’ll be home tomorrow,” Sergio Alfieri, head of medicine and surgery at the hospital, told journalists on Saturday night.
The news follows an update from the Vatican, and focuses on his improved state.
During his hospitalization, the Pope went through two “very important episodes” in which his “life is at risk,” Alfieri said.
Francis underwent two bronchoscopy to try to remove mucus secretion from his lungs, the Vatican said earlier this month. He was also subjected to non-invasive mechanical ventilation. However, the Pope did not need a tracheal tube to keep the airways open.
“The Holy Father was never intubated, and he was always vigilant and remained oriented,” Alfieri said.
Alfieri told reporters that bilateral pneumonia was treated well but it takes time for a full recovery.
Francis needs two months of rest at the Vatican, and will continue to receive medical care during that time, the surgeon said.
In a statement, the Vatican said that in the first public that he was admitted to, Francis will congratulate the crowd outside the hospital shortly after the day.
Earlier on Saturday, the Pope sent a message to pilgrims in Rome for the year of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee.
The Pope thanked the pilgrims for their prayers and asked them to continue sending messages of support, according to the Vatican. “I bless you and pray for you, and please: continue to pray for me too.”
