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Doctor cites the pope's 'surprising improvement' after surviving life-threatening crises
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Pope Francis gestures as he appears at a window of the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, March 23, 2025, where he has been treated for bronchitis and bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14. - photo by AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has shown ‘’a truly surprising improvement’’ since returning to the Vatican to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double-pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff’s five-week hospitalization said Saturday. “I find him very lively,’’ Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope at his apartment in the Santa Marta Domus on Wednesday, three days after his release from Rome’s Gemelli hospital. “I believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before.’’ Francis appeared frail and weak as he greeted a crowd of well-wishers from a hospital balcony on Sunday.