Pope Francis, hospitalized this week for treatment of bronchitis, thanked the faithful for their prayers during Mass on Palm Sunday, an important event in the Christian calendar marking the start of Holy Week.
“I greet you all, Romans and pilgrims, especially those who have come from afar. I thank you for your participation and also for your prayers, which you have intensified in recent days. Thank you!”, said the sovereign pontiff of 86 years leading the Angelus prayer, the day after he left the hospital after a three-day stay.
He briefly waved to the crowd on Sunday morning as he walked through St. Peter’s Square decorated with more than 35,000 plants and flowers.
On board his papamobile, he had displayed a serious air before taking part in this ceremony, at which he had promised to be present, in front of 60,000 people.
“He is a pope who devotes himself to others… let’s hope he will live a long time!” said a pilgrim, Giovanni, who did not give a surname, before the mass.
The pontiff left Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Saturday after a three-night stay, appearing to be in good shape and in a joking mood.
“I’m still alive,” he replied, smiling at the journalists and faithful gathered around the hospital who asked him how he felt.
The leader of the 1.3 billion Catholics has suffered from growing health problems for several years, including knee pain that forces him to use a wheelchair and a cane.
At Palm Sunday and Easter Masses, he is expected to remain seated while a cardinal conducts the ceremony at the altar. According to the Holy See, this organization was decided before his hospitalization, the Argentine pontiff no longer being able to stand for long.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said he was going to Gemelli Hospital for scheduled check-ups, before admitting he had been experiencing difficulty breathing and had a ‘respiratory infection’ requiring antibiotic treatment. .
This is his second hospitalization since 2021, when he underwent colon surgery, also in Gemelli.
Pope Francis celebrated his tenth anniversary at the head of the world Catholic Church at the beginning of March. He pushed through major governance reforms and sought to forge a more open and compassionate church, although he faced internal opposition, particularly from conservatives.
He has repeatedly said he would consider resigning — like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died in December — if his health were to fail, but he recently said that was not on the cards.
His previous stay in Gemelli, in July 2021, had lasted ten days. He had been admitted there for a major colon operation. He claims to have kept “after-effects” of anesthesia, which have pushed him to rule out knee surgery so far.
During an interview in January, Jorge Bergoglio confided again to suffer from diverticulitis, an inflammation of the diverticula, hernias or pockets which form on the walls of the digestive system.
The pope is constantly monitored by a team of caregivers, both in the Vatican and during his trips abroad.
A precaution all the more necessary since he has a heavy medical history behind him: at 21, he almost died of pleurisy and suffered the partial removal of a lung.
