Doctors say Pope Francis to leave hospital on Sunday, but his recovery will take months

Pope Francis will be released from the hospital on Sunday, after 38 days battling a life-threatening case of pneumonia in both lungs, his doctors said.

Medical director Dr. Sergio Alfieri of Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where the 88-year-old is being treated, said Francis will require at least two months of rest and rehabilitation as he continues recovering at the Vatican.

The pontiff was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened. He later developed a life-threatening case of pneumonia.

The Pope’s doctors provided their first in-person update on his condition in a month, in a sign that he has made good and steady progress in his battle against double pneumonia.

The Saturday evening briefing is the first since Feb. 21, a week after Francis was brought to the hospital. He subsequently experienced several respiratory crises that landed him in critical condition, though he has since stabilized.

In another development, the Vatican announced that Francis would appear on Sunday morning to bless faithful from his 10th-floor suite at the hospital. While Francis released an audio message on March 6 and the Vatican distributed a photo of him on March 16, Sunday’s blessing will be the first live appearance since Francis was admitted for what has become the longest hospitalization of his 12-year papacy.

Francis, who has chronic lung disease, is prone to respiratory problems in winter and had part of one lung removed as a young man, was admitted after a bout of bronchitis worsened.

Doctors first diagnosed a complex bacterial, viral and fungal respiratory tract infection, and soon after, pneumonia in both lungs. Blood tests showed signs of anemia, low blood platelets and the onset of kidney failure, all of which later resolved after two blood transfusions.

The most serious setbacks began on Feb. 28, when Francis experienced an acute coughing fit and inhaled vomit, requiring he use a noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask to help him breathe. He suffered two more respiratory crises in the following days, which required doctors to manually aspirate the mucus, at which point he began sleeping with the ventilation mask at night to help his lungs clear the accumulation of fluids.

At no point did the Pope lose consciousness, and doctors reported he was alert and co-operative.

Over the past two weeks, Francis has stabilized and registered slight improvements, the Vatican press office has reported. He no longer needs to wear the ventilation mask at night and is cutting back his reliance on high flows of supplemental oxygen during the day.