Pope Francis was released Saturday from the Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis, joking to reporters before he was taken away: «I’m still alive.»
Francis, 86, was hospitalized on Wednesday at the Gemelli polyclinic after reportedly having difficulty breathing after his weekly public hearing.
Doctors said the pope was receiving intravenous antibiotics to treat his bronchitis, the Vatican said in an earlier statement.
Before leaving, Francis hugged a couple whose daughter died Friday night at the hospital, the Vatican said Saturday.
Francis sat in the front seat of the white Fiat 500 car that took him away from the Gemelli Polyclinic.
On the eve of his discharge, Vatican officials said Francis would be in St. Peter’s Square for Mass on Palm Sunday to mark the start of Holy Week, which culminates on April 9 at Easter.
It is not clear, however, whether Francis will be able to preside over or attend the Holy Week celebrations.
They include a late-night Via Crucis procession punctuated by Good Friday prayers at the Colosseum in Rome and the Easter Mass on April 9, which is traditionally followed by a lengthy papal address delivered from the central balcony of the Basilica of Saint Peter.
Due to a chronic knee problem, Francis had already stopped celebrating Mass on major Catholic Church holidays, but continued to preside at ceremonies and deliver homilies.
He has used a wheelchair for over a year due to strained ligaments in his right knee and a minor knee fracture. He has said that the injury was healing and that he has been walking more with a cane lately.
Francis has also said that he was reluctant to have surgery for knee problems because he did not respond well to general anesthesia during his 2021 bowel surgery.
He said shortly after surgery that he had made a full recovery and was able to eat normally. But in a January interview with The Associated Press, she said her diverticulosis, or bulges in the intestinal wall, had «come back.»