Pope Francis intends to appear at the window of his suite on the 10th floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital at midday on Sunday, March 23, to greet and give his blessing to people, the Vatican told the accredited media on March 22.
It will be the first time that we will see him since his admission to the hospital on Feb.14 with a severe infection in his respiratory tract that soon after developed into double pneumonia. His life was in danger for some weeks after his admission to hospital, but on March 10 his doctors declared that he was out of imminent danger. While the lung infection has not yet been totally eliminated, they reported that he is on the slow but sure road to recovery.
Tomorrow will mark his 38th day and sixth consecutive Sunday in hospital. Normally on Sundays before he entered hospital, he would greet people from the papal study window on the third floor of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace and give a brief reflection on the Gospel of the day. For the past five Sundays and also tomorrow, however, he will not read the text. Instead the Vatican releases the written text to the media, and will do so again tomorrow.
Francis’ voice is weak as a result of the pneumonia and the high-flow oxygen therapy, as we heard in his audio message on March 6. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, his friend and prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith who has been in contact with the pope, told journalists yesterday that the pope “has almost to learn to speak again, as his voice is weak.”
We will probably hear his voice again tomorrow as the Vatican said he will come to his hospital window “to greet and bless people.”
Apart from his audio message, the only image that we have had of the pope came last Sunday evening when the Vatican released a photo of Francis with his head bowed in prayer. He was dressed in a white alb with a purple stole in the small chapel of his hospital suite where he concelebrated Mass that morning.
We are likely to see him dressed in his white cassock tomorrow around midday, either standing up or in a wheelchair. Whether he remains behind the glass window of his suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli that looks out on the open area in front of the hospital or comes out on the balcony to greet people for a brief moment remains to be seen. (He greeted supporters from the balcony on July 11, 2021, when he was also hospitalized.)
While confirming that his condition is improving, though slowly, his doctors have on several occasions described his overall condition as “complex” due to the fact that the infection in his lungs “is under control, but not yet eliminated.” He also has various pathologies and is an elderly patient of 88 years of age, so the recovery process is slow. For these reasons, the doctors say he has to remain in hospital for some time longer, without indicating when he might be discharged.
There has been much speculation as to whether Pope Francis will be back in the Vatican for his meeting with King Charles III and Queen Camilla on April 8, as announced by Buckingham Palace on March 17, or indeed whether he will be present to celebrate Easter next month.
When asked yesterday whether he thinks the pope will be back in the Vatican for Easter, Cardinal Fernández said, “I don’t think so, but I don’t know.” He said the pope would like to return to the Vatican but his doctors want to make sure he is fully recovered before they discharge him.
Also yesterday, when asked the same questions by journalists, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state, responded, “Let us not make predictions. Let us wait and see what the doctors say.”
This Saturday marks Pope Francis’ 37th day in hospital, and he sent a message to the faithful and clergy from several dioceses including the archdiocese of Naples led by its archbishop and new cardinal, Domenico Battaglia, for their Jubilee Year pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles.
Pope Francis had been scheduled to greet them at a public audience this Saturday morning. Since that was not possible, he sent a brief written message saying that he hoped they “would return home” from their jubilee pilgrimage, “stronger in the faith and more united in charity.”
He told them, “In these days I have felt so much support from your closeness, especially through the prayers with which you have accompanied me. Therefore, even if I cannot be physically present among you, I express to you my great joy in knowing that you are united with me and with one another in the Lord Jesus, as church. I bless you and pray for you. And I urge you too to continue to pray for me.”
