Pope Francis’s condition has improved enough that he will be discharged from a hospital in Rome on Sunday and sent to recover in the Vatican for at least two months, his doctors said on Saturday evening.
They added that his case of pneumonia in both lungs had been so severe that it had twice put his life in grave danger.
The doctors said that the pope’s condition had been stable for the last two weeks, and that he had overcome his most dangerous infections, but that he was not completely healed and needed to rest for at least two months.
He would require therapy and oxygen, as is normal for patients recovering from pneumonia, before he could resume his regular schedule, his doctors said. They urged that the pope avoid meeting with large groups, people with small children and other possible sources of infection.
“He was very happy,” said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the leader of the medical team taking care of the pope. He said the pontiff had been asking for days when he could go home.
For weeks Catholics around the world have been praying for his recovery, and since Feb. 25, cardinals have led a nightly rosary prayer in St. Peter’s Square that draws hundreds of the faithful each night.
Pope Francis was admitted to hospital on Feb. 14 with bronchitis, which developed into pneumonia in both lungs, complicated by a microbial tract infection. Doctors didn’t mince words when they held a news conference at the Gemelli hospital on Feb. 21, warning he was “not out of danger,” because of his age and chronic lung disease.
For several weeks, Francis remained in critical condition, as he experienced an asthmatic respiratory crisis, initial, mild kidney failure, and a bronchial spasm that caused him to inhale his vomit after a coughing fit. He used noninvasive mechanical ventilation during the night, alternating with high-flow oxygen therapy during the day.
On March 10, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had improved enough to no longer be considered in imminent danger from pneumonia and other infections, but said he would require more days of in patient treatment. He began to slowly reduce his use of oxygen therapy.
Last Sunday, the Vatican issued the first photo of the pontiff since he had entered into hospital and the announced Saturday that Francis might appear on the balcony of the Gemelli to impart the Angelus blessing tomorrow.
Francis was already frail. He had a part of one lung removed as a young man, and in recent years, he has been battling a number of health problems, using a wheelchair or a cane to move around. He was hospitalized with bronchitis in 2023, and again a few months later to undergo abdominal surgery for a hernia, linked to colon surgery he had in 2021.
Francis has often struggled with bronchitis during the winter months, but that had not stopped the pope from keeping up a grueling schedule in the weeks before his hospitalization, intensified by the opening of the 2025 Jubilee, a year of faith, penance and forgiveness of sins that takes place only every quarter century.
