Pope Francis was discharged from hospital on Saturday and, as he left, took the time to console a grieving couple before quipping to reporters: “I’m still alive.”
The 86-year-old Roman Pontiff was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital three days ago after complaining of breathing difficulties. He was later diagnosed with bronchitis and responded well to an infusion of antibiotics.
“I wasn't frightened, I'm still alive,” he told journalists outside the hospital after stopping to speak to them briefly to thank them for their work.
Before getting into a white Fiat 500, the Pope was approached by a couple whose daughter, Angelica, died last night: Francis was seen comforting them, giving them rosaries and praying with them. He also signed a boy’s cast.
Yesterday, Francis visited children in the paediatric oncology ward of the Gemelli, bringing them gifts of rosaries, chocolate eggs and a book about the birth of Jesus (Nacque Gesù a Betlemme di Giudea). During his visit, he baptised Miguel Angel, who is just a few weeks old.
A Holy See spokesman has said the Pope will be present in St Peter’s Square for the Palm Sunday Mass, where he is expected to preside at the liturgy, but a cardinal will take on the role of celebrant. This also happened during Midnight Mass last year.
It’s unclear, however, if he will participate in the Stations of the Cross service on Good Friday or how he will celebrate the Mass of Our Lord’s Supper the day before. Francis has traditionally made bold gestures of service and reconciliation on Holy Thursday, including washing the feet of immigrants and prisoners. Last year, he celebrated it at the home of Cardinal Angelo Becciu, once one of his closest aides and now a defendant in a Vatican fraud trial.
Nevertheless, Francis seems to have made a good recovery from the infection. On Thursday evening, the Holy See spokesman explained that he shared pizza with medical staff at the hospital and, throughout his stay, has been reading newspapers and continuing to work.
In an interview with the Associated Press in January, the Pope said he is generally in good health for someone his age. However, in July 2021, he had an operation to remove part of his large intestine, which led to rumours in the Vatican that he had cancer. Francis dismissed the cancer claims as “court gossip”, joking that the doctors “didn’t tell me about it”.
Francis has been open about his medical history. In 2019 he was interviewed by Nelson Castro, an Argentinian doctor-journalist friend, for a book about the health of popes. He spoke about a lung operation he underwent at age 21, from which he fully recovered, the physiotherapy he needs for his sciatica and his slightly rocking gait caused by a flat foot. He has also talked about receiving psychoanalysis once a week for six months when he was 42, which “helped me a lot at a moment in my life…when I needed to clarify things”.
For nearly a year, the Pope has been using a wheelchair due to pain in his knee, although he has declined to have surgery due to concerns about having another general anaesthetic. Instead, he has received help from the head doctor at the Spanish football team Atlético de Madrid and has seen some improvements recently.
Soon after his election, the Pope signed a letter of resignation should a health issue or accident make it impossible for him to continue, but has said that the papacy is a role which should be for life.
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