Pope Francis left the Gemelli hospital in Rome this Saturday, where he had been hospitalized since last Wednesday due to bronchitis. When he left, when asked about his state of health, he replied with a laugh: “I’m still alive.”
After being discharged, the Argentine pontiff left the hospital at 10:20 a.m. local time (09:20 GMT) aboard a utility vehicle and, upon leaving, got down to the car helped by a cane, to greet the faithful and thank journalists who have reported on his health.
The 86-year-old Argentine pontiff will preside tomorrow at the Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, which officially opens the rites of Holy Week.
From the first day he was hospitalized, his health confirmed an “improvement”, as Bruni clarified at the time.
Francisco has stayed in an apartment for the exclusive use of the popes in the Gemelli, inaugurated in the time of John Paul II, and in these days of convalescence he has read newspapers, prayed in his chapel and even had pizza for dinner accompanied by some doctors and collaborators.
On Friday afternoon, he visited the children of the Pediatric Oncology and Child Neurosurgery unit and baptized a baby named Miguel Ángel.
The Vatican has confirmed that Francis plans to preside over the Palm Sunday Mass tomorrow, which officially opens the rites of Holy Week, the most important of the liturgical calendar, although it will be officiated by Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.
www.eldiario.es