By Joshua McElwee, for Reuters
While Pope Francis has been in Gemelli Hospital in Rome, well-wishers have been gathering to pray and leaving flowers at a statue of Pope John Paul II, outside the hospital. Photo: AFP/ Alberto Pizzoli
- The Pope will need two months of rest at the Vatican, his doctor says
- He plans to offer a blessing from his hospital room window
- Pope Francis was admitted to hospital on 14 February
Pope Francis, who has been battling pneumonia for more than five weeks, will be discharged from hospital on Sunday but will need a further two months of rest at the Vatican, the head of his medical team said on Saturday.
Francis, 88, was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that became the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.
While Francis will return to the Vatican on Sunday, his doctors said it would take "a lot of time" for his aging body to fully heal.
They said they had prescribed the pope two months of repose, and had advised him against taking any meetings with large groups, or that take special effort.
"The recommendation for a period of convalescence of at least two months is very important," Sergio Alfieri, head of the pope's medical team, told the press conference.
The Vatican said earlier on Saturday that Francis also planned to make his first appearance in more than five weeks on Sunday, offering a blessing from the window of his room at Rome's Gemelli Hospital where he has been battling double pneumonia.
The pope has been seen by the public only once during his hospital stay, in a photo the Vatican released last week, showing the pontiff at prayer in a hospital chapel.
Francis wants to come to the hospital window around noon on Sunday to give a greeting and blessing, the Vatican said in its brief statement earlier on Saturday.
The pope usually offers a weekly noon-time prayer in St Peter's Square on Sundays. Francis has not been able to do this since 9 February, before going to hospital.
- Reuters
