The 88-year-old, who was admitted on February 14, greeted his well-wishers on Sunday from a balcony of Gemelli Hospital before his discharge.

Using a wheelchair, as he has for several years, the pope smiled, waved, and made a sign of a thumbs up at a group of well-wishers gathered outside below.

The pope, whose face looked swollen, appeared only for a few moments, Al Jazeera reported. 

Francis spoke briefly, with a feeble voice, to thank one an elderly woman among the crowd below, who had brought yellow flowers.

On Saturday, one of the doctors treating him said the head of the Roman Catholic Church would be discharged from hospital on Sunday and would need two months of rest at the Vatican.

In the moments before the pontiff’s appearance on Sunday, the crowd of hundreds of well-wishers called out for the pope, chanting “Francis, Francis, Francis”.

MA/PR