Pope Francis was happy to go and see
people in St Peter's Basilica in a surprise visit Wednesday as
he convalesces from life-threatening pneumonia, the Vatican said
Thursday.
"The Pope was happy to go to the basilica and meet the people",
the Vatican press office reported, explaining that Francis was
taking a stroll in his Santa Marta residence, in a wheelchair,
"when he expressed the desire to go and pray in the basilica".
The 88-year-old Argentine pontiff recently spent 38 days in
hospital fighting pneumonia which on two occasions had doctors
fearing for his life.
He is now about 10 days into a two-month-long convalescence.
In another surprise move, Francis briefly received King Charles
III and Queen Camilla on their 20th wedding anniversary in Santa
Marta Wednesday.
On the Pope's health, the press office said, "there are
"improvements that you have been able to notice with the
outings".
There are "no predictions" about the pope's possible presence at
Holy Week rites next week and "it will also depend on the
weather," the Vatican press office said.
Francis, it said, spends "prolonged periods without the aid of
oxygen" and the administration of high flows "is residual and
for therapeutic purposes".
It added that "the pope continues his convalescence" with
therapies and physiotherapy, both motor and respiratory.
The pontiff has delegated Cardinal Leonardo Sandri to preside
over the Palm Sunday Mass on April 13, and there are "no
predictions" about the pope's presence in any form, the press
office said.
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