Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs 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.“Thank you everyone,” 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.“I see a woman with yellow flowers,” Francis said during his appearance on the second-floor balcony after he was brought out in a wheelchair. “She’s good,” he said, complimenting her. He then sat and waved with both hands while people cheered and waved flags.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.The pope’s 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.His appearance on Sunday was met with cheers of “Papa Francesco” from the faithful outside the hospital. “Long live the pope,” someone called out.The pope made the sign of the cross in a blessing, then was wheeled back into the hospital.“He seems very weak, and from the news we know that he still has two months to recover fully, but even though that’s the case, we see hope in this,” said Patricia Olivera, a teacher from Portugal who was in the crowd. “This pope is our hope,” she said, to help us “get through some things that are happening in our world that are very frightful.”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’s pneumonia had been so severe that it had twice put his life in critical danger.But he received drug therapy treatment and oxygen that resulted in a “slow and progressive improvement,” allowing him to overcome the most critical episodes, said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the leader of the medical team taking care of the pope.As in the past six weeks, Francis did not impart the traditional Sunday Angelus blessing that he normally gives from the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square.In the Angelus message, which the Vatican published online, Francis said he was “saddened by the resumption of heavy Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip, causing many death and injuries,” and he called for an immediate halt to the fighting and for dialogue to resume. He also called for peace in “tormented Ukraine,” as well as in Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.Sister Priscilla Wangarri, a Franciscan nun from Kenya who was outside the hospital, expressed her happiness about Francis’s recovery. She said she had been attending nightly rosaries in St. Peter’s Square to pray for his health. “We love him because the church needs him, he has to shepherd his people,” she added.After leaving the hospital, Francis went to Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse where he lives, to convalesce for another two months. His doctors said Saturday that Francis should avoid unnecessary exertions and meetings with large groups or people with small children, to minimize the potential for further infections.Dr. Luigi Carbone, Francis’s Vatican-based doctor, said the pope’s residence was sufficiently equipped to deal with his medical needs.Francis entered the hospital on Feb. 14 with an acute respiratory insufficiency from viral and bacterial infections.Francis remained in critical condition for several weeks as he experienced an asthmatic respiratory crisis; initial, mild kidney failure; and a bronchial spasm that caused him to inhale his vomit after a coughing fit. He used noninvasive mechanical ventilation during the night and high-flow oxygen therapy during the day.Doctors insisted that Francis, who had kept up a grueling schedule before his illness, needed to take it easy for at least two months.“Convalescence is by definition a phase of recovery, so it is clear that in the period of convalescence, he will not be able to carry out his daily activity of meeting with people as he was used to,” Dr. Carbone said.Carlos Aguirre, a construction worker from Colorado Springs who came to the hospital as part of a group of Catholic pilgrims from the United States, said he was happy to see Francis on the mend. “It’s God’s will. If he’s coming out, it means that God still has a plan for him,” he said.
