Pope arrives back at Vatican as he makes first public appearance after five-week stay in hosptial
23 March 2025, 11:02 | Updated: 23 March 2025, 13:35
The Pope has made his first public appearance since entering hospital five weeks ago with double pneumonia.
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Pope Francis appeared from his hospital window in a wheelchair ahead of officially being discharged as he continues his recovery after weeks of life-threatening illness.
Worshippers gathered below the Pontiff's window at Rome's Gemelli hospital as he delivered a blessing ahead of returning to the Vatican.
"Thank you, thank you, everyone," he told the around 1,000 people gathered below his window.
Francis, who looked noticeably frail, pointed to a woman holding yellow flowers in the crowd as he held his first public blessing in more than a month.
Worshippers shouted "Papa Francesco" as the 88-year-old gave a thumbs up and thanked well-wishers from the hospital balcony.
The Pope was then quickly taken from the hospital in his iconic White Fiat, driven through Rome's streets back to Vatican City.
This comes after the Vatican released the first photograph of the pope for more than a month, showing Francis co-celebrating Mass in the hospital chapel last week.
The photograph was taken from behind, and shows Pope Francis wearing a purple Lenten liturgical vestment sitting in a wheelchair in front of an altar.
Francis's personal doctor, Dr Luigi Carbone, told a hastily arranged press conference on Saturday evening that the pope should eventually be able to resume all his normal activities, as long as he maintains the slow and steady progress he has registered to date.
His return home, after the longest hospitalisation of his 12-year papacy and the second-longest in recent papal history, brought tangible relief to the Vatican and Catholic faithful who have been anxiously following 38 days of medical ups and downs and wondering if Francis would make it.
The King and Queen are set to meet Pope Francis next month despite his continuing hospital treatment.
The historic gathering is scheduled to take place in Rome in early April to celebrate the papal jubilee and the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Church of England,
A Buckingham Palace source said they had shared "our hopes and prayers that Pope Francis's health will enable the visit to go ahead".
The tour from April 7 to 10 will include two state visits, to Rome and Ravenna in Italy, and separately the Holy See, the government of the Roman Catholic Church, in the Vatican - the smallest independent state in the world.
Charles will pass two milestones, becoming the first British monarch to visit the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, the resting place of St Paul since the reformation, and address both houses of Italy's parliament.
The King will hold audiences with Italy's President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the monarch and his wife will attend a black-tie state banquet at the Palazzo Quirinale, hosted by the president.
