The Vatican said the 86-year-old pope ate a pizza and christened a baby after recovering from a bout of bronchitis.
Pope Francis has been cleared by doctors for discharge on Saturday from Rome’s hospital where he was being treated for bronchitis, the Vatican said, adding that one night the pope ate pizza with medical staff and baptized a baby in the children’s ward.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni also said Francis will return home on Saturday and is scheduled to be in St Peter’s Square for Palm Sunday Mass at the start of Holy Week, though he did not say whether the pope would deliver the homily. hold during long service.
“The medical team following His Holiness Pope Francis, after evaluating the results of the tests conducted today and the favorable clinical recovery, has confirmed its discharge,” Bruni said in a written statement Friday evening.
The 86-year-old pope was taken to hospital two days ago after complaining of breathing difficulties. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and responded well to an antibiotic drip, his medical team said.
Calling the pope’s medical recovery “normal,” Bruni said earlier in the day that on Thursday evening “Pope Francis had eaten, ate a pizza, along with all those who assist him in these days of hospitalization,” including doctors, nurses, assistants and Vatican security personnel.
To highlight the pope’s improved health, the Vatican released a video showing him standing up and baptizing a baby lying in a hospital bed. In a separate photo, Francis was shown handing an Easter egg to a young child.
Francis, who celebrated the 10th anniversary of his pontificate earlier this month, has suffered from a number of ailments in recent years.
He was last hospitalized in July 2021 when he had part of his colon removed during surgery aimed at addressing a painful bowel condition called diverticulitis.
As a young man in Argentina, Francis had part of a lung removed.
“As we experience the trials and difficulties of life with faith, they serve to purify our hearts, make them more humble and thus open more and more to God,” the pope tweeted Friday.
When experienced with faith, life’s trials and tribulations serve to purify our hearts, make them more humble, and thus open more and more to God. #Fasting
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) March 31, 2023
The Vatican seemed eager to quickly address any concerns about the pope’s physical fitness to fully carry out his duties. Almost immediately after announcing a resignation date for Francis, the Vatican announced that the Pope would meet the Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a private audience at the Apostolic Palace on Monday.
In another sign of confidence in the pope’s health, the Catholic Church in Marseille said in a statement that the pope would visit the southern French city on September 23 and attend a gathering of bishops and young people from around the Mediterranean.