After a brief appearance on the hospital balcony, Francis was discharged and could be seen waving from the back of a car as he left Gemelli Hospital for the first time in five weeks.

Pope Francis made his first public appearance in Rome after being admitted to a hospital in mid-February with an acute respiratory insufficiency. Francis will continue recovery at the Vatican guesthouse where he lives.

Pope Francis waved, gave a thumbs-up and made a gesture of blessing from his hospital balcony to a throng of well-wishers before his discharge and return to the Vatican on Sunday, offering the first live glimpse of the pontiff after his five-week hospitalization.