(FILES) Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the window of the apostolic palace overlooking St. Peter's square during the Angelus prayer in The Vatican on February 2, 2025. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
Vatican City: Pope Francis is to leave hospital on Sunday and return to his residence in the Vatican, where he is to spend "at least two months" recovering, one of his doctors announced.
The 88-year-old pontiff has been in Rome's Gemelli hospital since February 14, when he was admitted with breathing problems, and he subsequently battled pneumonia in both lungs.
The Vatican said earlier that the Pope on Sunday intended to wave and offer a blessing from Gemelli hospital.
The doctor, Sergio Alfieri, said on Saturday that "tomorrow, the Pope will leave (the hospital) and return to Saint Martha's House" in the Vatican, where Pope Francis has his residential suite.
There, the head of the Catholic Church will have to observe "a long convalescence.... of at least two months," Alfieri told reporters.
Professor Sergio Alfieri (R) gives a press conference at the Gemelli hospital where Pope Francis is hospitalized in Rome, on March 22, 2025. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
Another doctor at the hospital, Luca Carbone, said the elderly Pope's health "is improving" and "we hope that he will soon be able to resume his normal activities".
Alfieri said: "Further progress will take place at his home, because a hospital -- even if this seems strange -- is the worst place to recover because it's where one can contract more infections."
