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Pope Francis, looking frail and with belabored breathing that made it difficult for him to speak, made his first appearance in more than six weeks Sunday, appearing briefly on the balcony of a Rome hospital to greet hundreds of people gathered in the square in front.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you everyone,\u201d he said in a wisp of a voice. The pope later left the hospital to briefly stop at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which has an icon of the Virgin Mary he is devoted to, before heading to the Vatican guesthouse where he lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a woman with yellow flowers,\u201d Francis said during his appearance on the second-floor balcony after he was brought out in a wheelchair. \u201cShe\u2019s good,\u201d he said, complimenting her. He then sat and waved with both hands while people cheered and waved flags.<\/p>\n
But after more than a month out of the public eye, Francis emerged deeply changed and diminished looking, underlining what will be a long recovery and a new phase for him and the church. It became apparent on the balcony that, for now, the Francis of old, who spoke off the cuff and made physical closeness to the faithful a hallmark of his pontificate, was transformed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The pope\u2019s voice was thin and raspy, which was to be expected for a patient who had suffered serious damage to his lungs and respiratory muscles, as his doctors explained at a news conference Saturday.<\/p>\n
His appearance on Sunday was met with cheers of \u201cPapa Francesco\u201d from the faithful outside the hospital. \u201cLong live the pope,\u201d someone called out.<\/p>\n
The pope made the sign of the cross in a blessing, then was wheeled back into the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe seems very weak, and from the news we know that he still has two months to recover fully, but even though that\u2019s the case, we see hope in this,\u201d said Patricia Olivera, a teacher from Portugal who was in the crowd. \u201cThis pope is our hope,\u201d she said, to help us \u201cget through some things that are happening in our world that are very frightful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only weeks ago, there was great concern that Francis might not recover from a bout of pneumonia he had suffered in both lungs and from other respiratory infections. His doctors said Saturday that the pope\u2019s pneumonia had been so severe that it had twice put his life in critical danger.<\/p>\n
But he received drug therapy treatment and oxygen that resulted in a \u201cslow and progressive improvement,\u201d allowing him to overcome the most critical episodes, said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the leader of the medical team taking care of the pope.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n