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Pope Francis leaves hospital, returns to Vatican on Sunday

Pope Francis leaves hospital, returns to Vatican on Sunday

Pope Francis will be discharged from hospital on Sunday - five weeks after being treated for double pneumonia. He will return to the Vatican, but doctors said he will need at least two months of rest and rehabilitation after leaving Rome's Gemelli hospital.

The 88-year-old pope has been battling pneumonia in both lungs since being hospitalized on February 14 following a bout of bronchitis. He has remained out of the public eye since then.

His doctors held a personal conference Saturday evening, the first in about a month.

"The good news is that the Pope will be released tomorrow," said Gemelli's medical director, Dr. Sergio Alfieri. "During his hospitalization, he presented two critical episodes during which the Holy Father's life was in danger. He subsequently made slow but progressive improvements."

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