Pope Francis to be released from hospital on Sunday

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

Gemelli Hospital medical director Dr Sergio Alfieri said Francis will require at least two months of rest and rehabilitation as he continues recovering at the Vatican.

Francis was admitted to the hospital on February 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened. He later developed a life-threatening case of pneumonia.

Doctors provided their first in-person update on the pontiff’s condition in a month, in a sign that he has made good progress in his battle against double pneumonia.

The Saturday evening briefing is the first since February 21, a week after the 88-year-old was taken to Gemelli. He subsequently experienced several respiratory crises that landed him in critical condition, though he has since stabilised.

In another development, the Vatican announced that Francis would appear on Sunday morning to bless the faithful from his 10th floor suite at the hospital.

He released an audio message on March 6 and the Vatican distributed a photo of him on March 16, but Sunday’s blessing will be the first live appearance since Francis was admitted for what has become the longest hospital stay of his 12-year papacy.

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

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

The most serious setbacks began on February 28 when Francis experienced an acute coughing fit and inhaled vomit, requiring he use a non-invasive 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 he lose consciousness and doctors reported he was alert and co-operative.

Over the past two weeks, he has stabilised and registered slight improvements, the Vatican press office 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.