Pope Francis back home after 5-week hospital stay for life-threatening double pneumonia

The 88-year-old pope sat in the front passenger seat of his white Fiat 500 wearing nasal tubes to give him supplemental oxygen as he entered the Perugino gate of Vatican City, where his return brought relief after fears that his illness could be fatal or lead to another papal resignation.

Francis' motorcade from Gemelli hospital overshot the Vatican initially and took a detour across town to stop at St. Mary Major basilica, where the pope's favourite icon of the Madonna is located and where he always goes to pray after a foreign visit.

He didn't get out of the car but gave a bouquet of flowers to the basilica's cardinal to place in front of the Salus populi Romani icon. The Byzantine-style painting on wood is revered by Romans and is so important to Francis that he has chosen to be buried in the basilica to be near it.

Before leaving the hospital, Francis was wheeled onto a balcony overlooking its main entrance and gave a thumbs-up and acknowledged the crowd. Hundreds of people had gathered on a brilliant spring Sunday morning to say goodbye and catch a first glimpse of Francis in five weeks.

I see this woman with the yellow flowers. Brava! a bloated-looking Francis said in a breathless voice. He gave a weak sign of the cross before being wheeled back inside, seemingly gasping for air.

Chants of Viva il papa! and Papa Francesco erupted from the crowd, which included patients who had been wheeled outside just to catch his brief appearance.

The pope is home to rest Doctors say Francis needs two months of rest and convalescence at the Vatican, during which he should refrain from meeting with big groups of people or exerting himself. But they said he should be able to resume all his normal activities eventually.

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.

Today I feel a great joy,” said Dr. Rossella Russomando, who was at Gemelli on Sunday but did not treat Francis. It is the demonstration that all our prayers, all the rosary prayers from all over the world, brought this grace.

Pope is to receive 24-hour care at home At the Vatican, pilgrims flocked as they have all year to St. Peter's Basilica to participate in the 2025 Holy Year. They swarmed St. Peter's Square and progressed through the Holy Door in groups, while big TV screens in the square were turned on to broadcast Francis' hospital greeting live.

I saw him and I am so blessed that I am here,” said Sister Imelda Legk, a nun from Indonesia who saw Francis at the hospital. We continually pray for him, for the good health so that we can have him until the end especially since it's a Jubilee year.

No special arrangements have been made at the Domus Santa Marta, the Vatican hotel where Francis lives in a two-room suite on the second floor next to the basilica. He will have supplemental oxygen and 24-hour medical care as needed, although his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, said he hoped Francis would progressively need less and less assistance breathing as his lungs recover.

While the pneumonia infection has been treated successfully, Francis will continue to take oral medication for some time for the fungal infection in his lungs and continue his respiratory and physical physiotherapy.

For three or four days, he's been asking when he can go home, so he's very happy, Carbone said.

Two life-threatening crises The Argentine pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli on February 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened.

Doctors first diagnosed a complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection and soon thereafter, pneumonia in both lungs. Blood tests showed signs of anemia, low blood platelets and the onset of kidney failure, all of which later resolved after two blood transfusions.

The most serious setbacks began February 28, when Francis experienced an acute coughing fit and inhaled vomit, requiring the use of a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe.

He suffered two more respiratory crises a few days later, which required doctors to manually aspirate copious amounts of mucus from his lungs, at which point he began sleeping with the ventilation mask at night to help his lungs clear the accumulation of fluids.

He was never intubated and at no point lost consciousness. Doctors reported he always remained alert and cooperative, although they say he has probably lost a bit of weight given a natural loss of appetite.