By Andrea Tornielli

38 days have gone by since February 14, when Pope Francis left the Vatican to be hospitalized at the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital.

These weeks have been challenging for an 88-year-old patient battling bilateral pneumonia. Medical reports did not downplay the severity of his condition, the crises he endured, or the complexity of his clinical picture.

Yet, throughout this time, he was surrounded by an outpouring of prayers for his recovery: personal prayers, the prayers of communities, rosaries and Eucharistic celebrations. They came not only from Catholics and Christians but also from people of other faiths and those without religious beliefs, who sent him good thoughts and well-wishes. It was for all these people in prayer that today’s brief greeting was wanted and shared.

During these long days of suffering, we accompanied the Bishop of Rome in spirit. We waited, prayed, and were moved when, on March 7, Pope Francis, with his frail voice, reached out to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square and those connected worldwide, thanking them for their prayers. We were reassured on the evening of Sunday, March 16, when, for the first time, we saw him again—albeit filmed from behind—while he prayed after concelebrating Mass in the chapel on the hospital’s tenth floor.

After weeks of concern but also of trust and surrender to the will of the He who grants us life and may call us to Himself at any moment, today, we have seen him again. On the day of his return to the Vatican, we received his blessing again. From his hospital room, Pope Francis has reminded us that every moment of life is precious and that, at any time, it may be asked of us. He has shown us that suffering and weakness can become opportunities for evangelical witness, a testament to a God who became Man, suffered with us, and accepted annihilation on the cross.

We thank him for sharing that, from his hospital room, war seemed even more absurd to him; for reminding us of the need to disarm the world rather than rearm it by stuffing arsenals with new instruments of death; and for praying and offering his suffering for peace, which remains so fragile today.

Welcome home, Holy Father!