Pope Francis returned to the Vatican after the end of his long hospitalization, but his state of health and medical prescriptions prevent him from leading the same life as before.
Pope Francis returned to his residence in Saint-Marthe after a 37-day hospitalization, the longest of his pontificate. The Holy Father left the hospital on Sunday, March 23, after significant improvements in its health in the face of bilateral polymicrobial pneumonia which seriously weakened it. But his exit from the Gemelli Hospital in Rome is not synonymous with a complete recovery from the Sovereign Pontiff who remains hospitalized at home and has started a convalescence of at least two months with his personal nurse.
“Pneumonia is a serious problem even in a young and healthy person. In a person over 85, this can even lead to death,” recalls Francesco Vaia, member of the national authority for the rights of people with disabilities in Italy, toIl Corriere della will be. The disease and the treatment to treat it did not leave Pope Francis unharmed.
When it was released, the sovereign pontiff appeared publicly with probes allowing him to oxygenate. Accessories that will often accompany the Holy Father in the future: “We will have to get used to seeing it with food probes. But it is a normal condition for a man of almost 90 years. There are many elderly people of this age which […] carry tubes and are connected to oxygen “, underlines Francesco Vaia.
The high -speed oxygenation from which Pope Francis has benefited after his acute respiratory attacks in the hospital “caused difficulties” whether in terms of breathing or speech. Which could have been observed at the exit of the Hospital of the Hospital. “The pope will have to submit to respiratory exercises and […] recover his muscle tone, “warns the former member of the Italian Ministry of Health at the Corriere della will be. Another objective of the sovereign pontiff: “relearn to speak” according to one of the cardinals closest to him at theAFP.
Pope Francis limited in his functions
Pope Francis will therefore not resume his duties so early, especially as he must as much as possible “avoid contact with groups of people who can be a vector of new infections,” insisted Sergio Alfieri, head of the medical team who has treated Pope Francis with the Pilgrim. Official visits were thus canceled or maintained but with Cardinal Pietro Parolin. Likewise, no movement of the Pope, in Italy or elsewhere, is maintained on the program.
If rehabilitation will allow Pope Francis to “do a lot of things again” according to Francesco Vaia, the sovereign pontiff will always have to deal with an additional fragility and handicap, he who has already been moving more than in a wheelchair since 2023. His state of health will inevitably prevent him from performing certain tasks, some of which directly linked to his papal function like “Take heavy commitments” or ” trips “.
The Holy Father will have to favor a “healthy lifestyle”, but also limit the causes of stress and perhaps reduce the amount of work. Medical prescriptions which will hinder exercise at the head of the Church in the coming weeks and perhaps beyond … The Vatican has not confirmed it, but it seems very likely that Pope Francis is missing the celebrations of Holy Week before Easter, the most important of Christian festivals. It would be the second time that his fragile health has been holding Pope Francis aside from the Pascal Celebrations.