Pope John Paul II left hospital on Sunday night after speaking briefly in public for the first time since an operation 17 days ago to insert a tube in his windpipe.
The move ensured that the 84-year-old pontiff returned to the Vatican in time for Easter. But, for the first time in his papacy, almost all his Easter duties have been delegated, and a statement from the Vatican on Sunday made clear he had still not fully recovered.
It said that, with the agreement of his doctors, the Pope would return to his apartment in the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square ”where he will continue his convalescence”.
Earlier, standing at the window of his 10th-floor suite in the Gemelli Polyclinic hospital, Pope John Paul had blessed the crowd outside and spoken a few words in a hoarse, but clear voice. ”Dear brothers and sisters, welcome, thank you for your visit,” he began in Italian.
Then, in Polish, he greeted a party from his birthplace of Wadowice, Poland, who sang and prayed beneath his room, waving Polish flags and bouquets of flowers.
Eva Filipiak, the mayor of Wadowice, said: ”It is enough for us that the Holy Father is coming quickly back to health. We hope we have helped him to carry his cross.”
The Pope was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties on February 24, for the second time this year.
Accounts provided since by sources inside the Vatican suggested he would almost certainly have died without the surgery that allowed doctors to clear his lungs and open a new air passage.
Hospital sources said the tube they inserted had not yet been removed, and on Sunday the top of the Pope’s white cassock was unbuttoned, apparently to relieve pressure on the tube.
Medical experts not involved in the pontiff’s treatment have said that leaving the tube in place would increase the risk of infection.
Even before he was taken to hospital, the Pope had had difficulty speaking. He has got Parkinson’s disease, which progressively limits muscle control.
For the third week running, the weekly Angelus prayer was read out in St Peter’s Square by Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, who is increasingly the Pope’s public voice. – Guardian Unlimited Â