Francis was admitted to Rome hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection.

Pope Francis will be discharged from hospital on Sunday and will need two months of rest at the Vatican, one of the doctors treating him says.

Francis, 88, was admitted to a Rome hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection that has required evolving treatment.

Catholics and others worldwide have been praying for his recovery. Many have been leaving flowers, candles and notes for Francis outside Gemelli University Hospital, where he is admitted.

Francis will make his first public appearance since becoming ill on Sunday from the hospital.

“Pope Francis intends to wave and offer a blessing from the Agostino Gemelli hospital in Rome after Angelus prayers,” the Vatican said on Saturday.

The Angelus prayers are normally recited by the pope at midday (11:00 GMT) every Sunday. But due to his hospitalisation, the pope has missed these prayers for five straight weeks for the first time since his election in March 2013.

Francis has made public appearances from Gemelli hospital during previous hospitalisations. On July 11, 2021, he recited the Angelus prayer from his balcony on the 10th floor of the hospital after colon surgery.

The current hospitalisation, however, is the longest of his papacy.

The Vatican said on Wednesday that Francis had suspended the use of an oxygen mask and his clinical condition was “improving”, raising questions over who might lead the busy schedule of religious events leading up to Easter on April 20, the holiest period in the Christian calendar.

The Vatican said no definite decisions had been taken yet in that regard.

Despite Francis’s improvement, speculation abounds that he could step down due to his fragility, following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

On Monday, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told reporters that he had noted an improvement in Francis’s health.

But asked whether the conversation had turned to the pope’s resignation, he replied: “No, no, no, absolutely not.”