Pope Francis, who has been battling pneumonia for more than five weeks, will be discharged from hospital on Sunday.

That’s according to his medical team, who on Saturday said the 88-year-old will require a further two months of rest at the Vatican.

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14 with a severe respiratory infection, which has been the most serious health crisis of his 12-year papacy.

Dr. Sergio Alfieri is the head of the pope’s medical team.

“The Holy Father was never intubated, and he always remained alert and oriented. The Holy Father will be discharged tomorrow, as we said before, in a stable clinical condition with a prescription to partially continue drug therapy and a convalescence and rest period of at least two months.”

He added that the pontiff no longer has pneumonia but is also not completely healed from a “complex” infection.

On Friday, one senior cardinal had said that the pope would need to “relearn to speak” after battling a respiratory infection for so long.

The Vatican said Francis would make his first public appearance in more than a month on Sunday, to offer a blessing from the window of his hospital room before being discharged.

The pope had been set to meet with Britain’s King Charles, as well as lead the Vatican’s annual celebrations for Easter in the coming weeks.

A spokesperson said on Saturday that the Vatican would decide about those appointments at a later date.

Reuters