Editorial

‘Anchored in God’s love,’ pope returns to the Vatican, still needing our prayers

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and the photographs released showing Pope Francis greeting a crowd of well-wishers from a balcony at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on March 23 were a welcome sign for those who have been praying for the Holy Father since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14.

It didn’t matter that parts of his body appeared to be swollen—as would be expected for an 88-year-old man who was treated for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and infections during his 38-day hospital stay.

With a very weak voice, the pope thanked the crowd gathered outside the hospital, waved his hands and gave a thumbs up, as reported by Catholic News Service. (To view a video of the pope’s greeting, go to cutt.ly/PopeGreeting.)

Shortly after greeting the well-wishers, Pope Francis was discharged from the hospital and returned to his residence at the Vatican—but not before being driven to the center of Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he has prayed before and after every foreign trip and after his two previous hospitalizations for abdominal surgery. Prayer—his and the countless others offered by people around the world—was and continues to be an integral piece of the pope’s ongoing recovery.

The Holy Father did not go into the church but left a bouquet of flowers to be placed on the altar under the Marian icon “Salus Populi Romani” or “Health of the Roman People.” Television footage of the pope, seated in the front seat of a white Fiat, showed he was using oxygen through a nasal tube.

Although doctors confirmed Pope Francis was completely healed of double pneumonia, they also said he may still have other lingering bacterial and viral infections.

As a result, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, who is leading the medical team treating the pope, said during a news conference at the hospital on March 22 that the Holy Father will continue “with a prescription to partially continue drug therapy and of a convalescence-and-rest period of at least two months.”

Alfieri also noted, “Immediately, he will not be able to again take up work activities with meeting groups of people or important obligations that he will probably be able to carry out once he has finished the prescribed convalescence and expected clinical improvements are recorded.”

Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal physician, said at the Vatican, “He needs oxygen, like all patients who are discharged with pneumonia, which we hope he can shortly remove in daily use.”

The pope’s voice lost strength during his hospital stay, but doctors said that is common for elderly people with pneumonia. “It will take time for the voice to return to what it was before,” Alfieri explained. “Already compared to 10 days ago, we have recorded, let’s say, important improvements.”

Regarding the pope’s participation in Easter celebrations, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said, “Based on the improvements during this convalescence period, the appropriate decisions will be made.”

On March 23, the Vatican released a text that Pope Francis had prepared for the midday Angelus prayer, where he highlighted the Gospel reading for that day’s Mass telling the parable of the fig tree from Luke 13:1-9. He also reflected on his lengthy hospital stay.

“The patient gardener is the Lord, who thoughtfully works the soil of our lives and waits confidently for our return to him,” the pope wrote.

“In this long period of hospitalization, I have experienced the Lord’s patience, which I also see reflected in the tireless solicitude of the doctors and health care workers, as well as in the attention and hopes of the family members of the sick,” who also are in the Gemelli, he wrote.

“This trusting patience, anchored in God’s love that does not fail, is indeed necessary in our lives, especially in facing the most difficult and painful situations,” Pope Francis continued.

As we proceed on our Lenten journey toward Holy Week and Easter, let us continue to offer prayers for the Holy Father’s healing during his ongoing recuperation at the Vatican.

Let us pray that as he carries his cross, he may regain his strength and voice as our universal shepherd, be transformed by the grace of God in his mission to lead our Church, and continue to be “anchored in God’s love that does not fail.”

—Mike Krokos