VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis plans to make his first appearance in five weeks on Sunday, offering a blessing from the window of his room at Gemelli Hospital in Rome as he battles double pneumonia, the Vatican said.
Francis, 88, was admitted to the hospital on Feb 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment.
The pope has only been seen once during his hospital stay, in a photo the Vatican released last week, showing him at prayer in a hospital chapel.
Francis wants to come to the hospital window around noon on Sunday to give a greeting and blessing, the Vatican said in a brief statement on Saturday.
The pope usually offers a weekly noontime prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sundays. He has not been able to do since Feb 9, before going to hospital.
The Vatican said Francis was not expected to deliver the prayer this Sunday, but would come to the window for a greeting.
The pope is slowly regaining his strength but must “relearn how to speak” after prolonged use of high-flow oxygen therapy, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez said on Friday.
The cardinal, who is the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, dismissed speculation that the pontiff would retire and said he was returning to his old self.
“The pope is doing very well, but high-flow oxygen dries everything out. He needs to relearn how to speak, but his overall physical condition is as it was before,” Fernandez said.
Since the pope was admitted to hospital, the Vatican has released just one brief audio clip of him speaking, on March 6, when his voice was broken, breathless and hard to understand.
In its latest health update on Friday, the Vatican said the pope’s condition remained stable with “minor improvements in breathing and mobility”.
It confirmed he had not used mechanical ventilation for help with breathing at night since Monday, but was rather receiving oxygen via a small hose under his nose for much of the time.
There is still no official word on when he might return home to the Vatican and Fernandez said he did not know if he would be discharged in time for Easter, which falls on April 20.
“He could return, but the doctors want to be 100% sure because he believes that with the little time he has left, he wants to dedicate himself entirely to others, not to himself,” he said.
Asked if he thought Francis might step down, the cardinal said: “I really don’t think so, no.”
