Pope Francis Makes Surprise 1st Appearance at Vatican After Leaving Hospital

Pope Francis made his first public appearance at the Vatican since he was discharged from the hospital on March 23 after a bout with pneumonia.

On Sunday, April 6, the 88-year-old head of the Catholic Church surprised onlookers when he made his way through St. Peter’s Square amid a Jubilee Mass for the sick and health workers — where he was photographed shaking hands, waiving to faithfuls and sharing prayers.

According to the Associated Press, the pope began the outing by being pushed in a wheelchair while wearing nasal tubes, before he was brought to the front of the altar in the square. "Good Sunday to everyone,’’ he said, with the outlet noting that his voice sounded stronger than it did during his last public appearance on the hospital's balcony. “Thank you very much.”

During his Sunday blessing, per the outlet, Pope Francis offered a prayer for health care workers who he said “are not always helped to work in inadequate conditions, at times the victims of aggression. Their mission is not easy and must be supported and respected.’'

Pasquale Citrolo from Trapani, Sicily, told the AP that the pope's "completely unexpected" appearance was "beautiful." Linda Elezi from the province of Ancona added that she too was touched by the "surprise."

The pope's last public appearance came on March 23, when he addressed the gathered crowd from the balcony of Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital, where he was discharged after spending 38 days hospitalized.

In a Feb. 14 news release, the Vatican revealed that Pope Francis had been admitted for bronchitis and "diagnostic tests" — before he eventually developed double pneumonia with his condition having worsened.

The Vatican later released an audio recording of the pope thanking people for their prayers on March 6. "I thank you with all my heart for the prayers you offer for my health from [St. Peter’s] Square. I accompany you from here," he said in a message recorded in Spanish. "May God bless you, and may the Virgin protect you. Thank you."

After the pope was released from the hospital on March 23, Dr. Sergio Alfieri — the head of his medical team while there — told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he experienced a “bronchospasm" and inhaled his own vomit on Feb. 28, per the Associated Press and USA Today. Doctors feared he "might not survive the night," he added.

“We needed to choose whether to stop and let him go, or to push it and attempt with all of the possible drugs and the treatments, taking the very high risk of damaging other organs,’’ Alfieri told the Italian outlet, per the AP. “In the end, that is the path we chose.”

Still, the doctor added that “no one gave up." The Vatican confirmed he had been discharged from the hospital on March 23. "From the first day, he asked us to tell him the truth and he wanted us to tell the truth about his condition," Alfieri said, per CNN. "Nothing was ever modified or omitted."

The AP previously reported after the pope was discharged that Alfieri said he'd need at least two months of rest, rehabilitation and convalescence, while also being advised to avoid meeting in groups.