MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pope makes surprising appearance at St Peter's Square

He looked frail in a wheelchair and with intranasal oxygen supply

Pope Francis made a surprise appearance at St Peter's Square Sunday, two weeks after his release from Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he had been treated for life-threatening pneumonia for 38 days. The 88-year-old former Archbishop of Buenos Aires looked frail in a wheelchair with nasal oxygen supply as he blessed around 20,000 faithful at the end of a Mass for the sick, led by Archbishop Rino Fisichella.

Speaking in a strained but improved voice, he greeted the crowd with, “Good Sunday to all. Thank you,” he said in Italian to the baffled attendees. In his sermon, Fisichella read out the Pope's homily in which Francis likened illness to a “school” of love and dependence, reflecting on his own health struggles. “With you, dear sick brothers and sisters, I share many things at this moment in my life: the experience of illness, of feeling weak, of being dependent on others in many things, of needing support. It is not always easy, but it is a school in which we learn daily to love and to let ourselves be loved,” Fisichella said, quoting the Pope.

He also condemned violence against healthcare workers and called for prayers for peace in conflict zones like Ukraine, Gaza, and others. Doctors advised him not to engage in public activities and to refrain from any contact with the faithful to limit the risks of relapse during his two-month convalescence.

Sunday's gesture was met with applause as it signaled the religious leader's eagerness to connect with the 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide. The Argentine pontiff greeted one by one a handful of people behind the altar set up in the square.

“He is improving, it's clear, and he wants to be seen,” a Vatican source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He is not yet fit enough to record a message, but he is fit enough to take a similar step to patients like him and show himself” in public.

Pope Francis returned to the Vatican two weeks ago after 38 days at Rome's Gemmelli clinic, where he was admitted with life-threatening pneumonia.