The Pope on his way out of the hospital: “I’m still alive”

Papa Francisco he left the hospital today Gemelli from Rome, where he was hospitalized for bronchitis, and upon leaving he got out of the car to let the cameras know that he was fine: “I’m still alive,” He stated in his usual joking tone, but his voice a bit tired considering the recovery.

The 86-year-old pope, hospitalized since Wednesday, left Gemelli at 10:20 a.m. local time (9:20 GMT) sitting in the passenger seat of a small white Fiat car, escorted by police and their security agents.

The vehicle slowed down, passing in front of a group of worshipers and journalists waiting by the side of the road, and Francisco, who was waving to them from the lowered window, decided to get out to make his first public statements.

“Holy Father, how are you?” asked the journalist, to which the Pope, already on his way and supported by a cane, answered in a slightly tired tone of voice: “I’m still alive, you know?” a direct statement which he accompanied with one of his usual anecdotes.

“I remember something that an old man, older than me, once said to me when he finds himself in this situation: ‘I, father, do not know death, but I saw it coming… It’s ugly, huh !!'” the pope recalled, laughing.

As soon as he got out of the car, Francisco thanked dozens of journalists who followed the evolution of his health during these three days of hospitalization: “Thank you for your work, wonderful job”he looked back at the cameras and microphones.

In this sense, he assured that these days he admitted that he read the chronicles that were written about him: “Beautiful articles, precise things to stay away from fantasies. You are brave, brave”, he praised him.

Then, of course, he also had words of praise for the “heroism” of doctors and medical staff: “I really admire the people who work in hospitals”he admitted.

These days received and recovering, in the apartment for the exclusive use of the pontiff inaugurated at the time John Paul IIFrancisco read the press, prayed in the chapel and the day before yesterday he had a pizza dinner with the health workers and their associates.

Yesterday he also visited the children in the neurosurgery and oncology department, brought them Easter eggs and other details, and even baptized one of them, little Miguel Ángel. This visit was, as he admitted upon leaving, “the most beautiful moment.

On the other hand, Francisco admitted that he was not afraid when last Wednesday, after presiding over the general audience with the faithful, he felt ill, which made it difficult to breathe. “No, I’m not afraid,” he said, frowning.

“I don’t know, I felt some discomfort. Like when you have a bad stomach and you feel bad,” he described, playing down the importance.

At that moment, he noticed next to him a boy with his arm in a cast. “What happened to you?” he asked. The boy then explained that he had taken a hard fall when he was stopping the ball while playing soccer, so Papa asked for a pen and signed the bandages.

Before returning to the vehicle and greeting those present, the Pope hugged the married couple who lost their daughter last night and they prayed together in these moments of pain.

Immediately afterwards, Pope Francis, who always sat as a co-pilot, headed for the Vatican, although he passed through the basilica first. Saint Mary the Greatin the center of the capital, for a few moments of prayer for all those who helped him and for the sick children.

An hour later, his car, always escorted, reached the Vatican walls to enter the small papal state through the Perugino Gate, behind the residence he chose in 2013 after the election, Casa Santa Marta.

And at that moment, he also decided to get out of the car for a while to give Easter eggs to the waiting policemen.

At every moment, since his reception, the Pope wanted to be present in Holy Week, the most important period of the liturgical calendar in which Catholics around the world remember the martyrdom and death of Jesus of Nazareth.

To begin with, as he himself said in front of the cameras, tomorrow he will lead the Mass on Palm Sunday in San Pedro Square, which officially opens the rites, although it is assumed that it will be led by Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri.

The week will continue with the Masses of the Easter Triduum, which, according to the plan, will be led by the cardinals from the altar, but with the presence of Francis, as well as the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday in the Colosseum in Rome and other festivities. .

The Holy See predicts that Francis will also impose a traditional blessing “Urbi et Orbi” from Easter Sunday from the central box of the Basilica of San Pedro, on the occasion of which he usually reads a message in which he reflects on the state of the world every year.