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At a press conference Saturday evening in Rome, the Pope’s medical team announced that the Pope would return to the Vatican on March 23 on the 38th day of his hospitalization.
The surprise announcement came just a few hours after the Vatican had said that the Pope would bless the faithful from the balcony after the midday Sunday Angelus — the first time that the faithful would see the Pope since he was admitted to the Gemelli on February 14.
The “good news” was given by Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the Pope’s doctor at Gemelli, and Luigi Carbone, the Pope’s referring physician at the Vatican, after 38 days of hospitalization — the fourth and longest since Cardinal Bergoglio’s election in 2013,
“For three or four days he had been asking us, ‘When can I go home?’” they said, assuring that “the most serious infections have been resolved” and that the head of the Catholic Church must now continue his recovery at the Vatican.
While the Holy Father returns to his residence at Casa Santa Marta (which has been equipped with oxygen), doctors say that he will need at least two months of continuing rest, therapy, and convalescence.
Emphasizing that the Pope’s lungs are damaged, as are his “respiratory muscles,” they acknowledged that their patient had “slightly” lost his voice but that he would regain it “little by little.”
During his hospitalization, he suffered two major respiratory crises during which he was in danger of dying. While there are still some “bacteria, viruses, and miasmas,” the “bilateral pneumonia has been cured,” the medical team said with delight.
Follow updates on the Pope’s health here.
Going forward
While the Pope has some notable events on the calendar in the coming weeks — particularly the intense liturgical celebrations of Holy Week / Easter, the April 27 canonization of Carlo Acutis, and the trip to Turkey to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in May — those things will depend on his condition and convalescence at the time.
So as not to risk the Pope being infected again, the doctors are asking anyone who is due to meet the Pontiff to postpone their appointment if they themselves have been in contact with anyone with a fever, especially children.
“It is clear that during the period of convalescence, he will not be able to carry out his usual activities,” they agreed.
2 very close calls
Recalling the course of his hospitalization for nearly 40 days, Dr. Alfieri, looking serious, admitted having to face “two very critical episodes during which the Holy Father was in mortal danger.” The first was February 22 and the second was February 28. (The doctors didn’t highlight the difficulties of March 3).
Dr. Alfieri suggested that the crises had been morally trying for the Pontiff, but that he had quickly pulled himself together.
He thus reported this episode: “After he had had a bad time, we asked him: ‘Holy Father, how are you?’ When he replied: ‘I’m still alive!’ we understood that he had also regained his good humor.”
[Article updated with more information after initial publication.]
And today we celebrate...