Pope Francis will be released from hospital in Rome on Sunday after spending five weeks battling a life-threatening lung infection that at times left him in “critical condition.” Doctors said the 88-year-old pontiff was ready to return home at a news conference on Saturday, according to NBC News. Acknowledging that the illness had been “life-threatening” at times, the pope’s doctors said that he had been stable for more than two weeks. “We have prepared to welcome him home,” Dr. Luigi Carbone said. The doctors added, though, that Francis would still need medications, oxygen assistance, and rest for at least two months. “Immediately, he won’t be able to continue his work activity of meeting groups of people or important work, that he will likely be able to do once he has finished the period of convalescence prescribed and the clinical improvements are verified,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri said. The Vatican has said that the pope has been able to keep up his essential duties during his illness. Francis, who has lived with chronic lung disease since he was in his twenties, is set to make his first public appearance since his latest health scare when he greets well-wishers outside the hospital on Sunday.
