A weak and frail Pope Francis has returned home to the Vatican from the hospital after surviving a five-week, life-threatening bout of pneumonia.
The motorcade carrying the 88-year-old pope entered the Perugino gate entrance to Vatican City, and Francis was seen wearing the nasal tubes to give him supplemental oxygen.
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During the trip home from the Gemelli hospital, Francis took a slight detour to bring him to the St. Mary Major basilica, where his favorite icon of the Madonna is located and where he always goes to pray after a foreign visit. But it wasn’t clear if he got out of the car, a white Fiat 500.
The Argentine pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened. Doctors later diagnosed a complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection and soon thereafter, pneumonia in both lungs.
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Francis' 38-day stay was the longest of his 12-year papacy and the second longest in recent papal history, and had raised the prospect of a papal resignation or funeral.
