Looking frail, Pope Francis made his first, brief, appearance in more than six weeks on Sunday, appearing on the balcony of a Rome hospital to greet hundreds of people gathered in the square in front.
“I see a woman with yellow flowers,” said Francis, who was brought out on the second-floor balcony in a wheelchair. “E’ brava,” he said in appreciation of the woman. Then he sat and waved with both hands while people cheered and waved flags.
The pope’s voice was frail and raspy, which was to be expected for a patient who had suffered serious damage to his lungs and respiratory muscles, as his doctors explained at a news conference Saturday.
People began cheering and rhythmically clapping: “Francesco.”
“Long live the pope,” someone called to more cheers. After a few more moments, the pope was wheeled back into the hospital.
Only weeks ago, there was great concern within the church and beyond that Francis might not recover from a bout of pneumonia he had suffered in both lungs and other respiratory infections. His doctors, speaking at a news conference at the Policlinico A. Gemelli hospital on Saturday evening, said that the pope’s pneumonia had been so severe that it had twice put his life in critical danger.
But the pope received drug therapy treatment and oxygen that resulted in a “slow and progressive improvement,” allowing him to overcome the most critical episodes, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the leader of the medical team taking care of the pope, said Saturday.
