Pope Francis on Wednesday held an audience with dozens of doctors, nurses and hospital staff who helped get him back to health after bronchial infections and double pneumonia put his life at risk earlier this year.
“Thank you, thank you for everything you have done,” Francis said in a raspy voice. “I pray for you, I hope you do the same for me.”
But in a sign of his continued frailty, the Vatican announced that the 88-year old pontiff would not lead the celebration of major services on Easter weekend and had instead delegated several cardinals to take his place. It remains unclear if he will attend any Easter festivities, though he may still give a blessing.
His brief statements to the hospital staff were the most Francis had said in public since March 23, when he was released from the Policlinico A. Gemelli in Rome after a 38-day stay.
When he left the hospital, his doctors disclosed that the pontiff had been so ill that he nearly died on two occasions. Francis was admitted on Feb. 14 with bronchitis that developed into pneumonia in both lungs.
Since returning to the Vatican, Francis has been convalescing in the guesthouse where he lives, gradually increasing appointments in his daily routine. Along with daily physiotherapy, both motor and respiratory, Francis has begun to meet with top Vatican officials on a regular basis, according to the Vatican press office. He has also been working on texts and documents, it said.
Though his doctors cautioned the pope to take things easy for at least two months, he has made a couple of surprise appearances during recent Sunday Masses in St. Peter’s Square. He also took a spin in his wheelchair through St. Peter’s Basilica last week in street clothes, and met privately with King Charles III and Queen Camilla of Britain. But he has not celebrated any public Mass.
At the Colosseum on Good Friday, Cardinal Baldo Reina, the pope’s vicar general of Rome, will preside over the Via Crucis, the reciting of the Stations of the Cross describing Christ’s crucifixion, with meditations written by Francis. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the Easter Vigil and Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the pope’s vicar emeritus of Vatican City, will preside over the Easter Sunday Mass.
The audience at the Vatican on Wednesday included around 70 people from the Gemelli hospital, including kitchen staff, as well the Vatican’s in-house medical staff, who had assisted the pope during his most difficult moments. “Thank you for the service in the hospital, it was very good, keep it up,” he said, breathing heavily.
Francis is slowly regaining his ability to speak which was hampered after weeks of hospitalization during which his vocal muscles weakened.
“He’s getting better every day,” Sergio Alfieri, the doctor who heads the pope’s medical team, told the Italian broadcaster RAI, pointing out that Francis did not use supplemental oxygen during the Wednesday audience.
Daniele Franco, the president of the Gemelli hospital foundation, told Francis that they were all happy to see him getting better, and that the staff hoped to see him at the hospital soon, not as a patient, but “to visit our patients, above all those who are least well.” Francis nodded and smiled.
“One word of comfort from you,” Mr. Franco said, “would be of great help to them and their families.”
Elisabetta Povoledo is a reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
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