Pope Francis was discharged from hospital this morning, nine days after he underwent surgery to repair an abdominal hernia.
The 86-year-old left Rome's Gemelli hospital in a wheelchair, passing reporters and well-wishers at the main entrance as he was taken to a waiting car.
The pontiff underwent a three-hour operation under general anaesthetic on 7 June to remove a painful hernia on the site of a scar from a previous surgery.
"The pope is well. He is in better shape than before," Sergio Alfieri, who operated on Francis, said.
The Vatican said the pope would recite his noon prayer on Sunday in St. Peter's Square and resume private audiences next week, but would skip the Wednesday general audience in the square "to safeguard his post-operative recovery".
Francis is due to receive Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Tuesday and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday.
As he was being taken to the car, Francis was asked about the latest migrant tragedy off the coast of Greece, where at least 78 people drowned early on Wednesday and hundreds more were missing and feared dead.
"So much pain, so much," Italian media quoted him as saying.
Before returning to the Vatican, Francis stopped to pray at an icon of the Madonna at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of his custums when he returns from a trip or a hospital stay.
When he reached a Vatican gate he briefly got out of his car, and, standing for a minute, individually thanked members of the Italian police escort.
"I am happy and I pray so much to the Lord to leave him here with us for a long time because he is everyone's pope," said Sister Anna Rita, an Italian nun who watched him return.
Alfieri said the pope was well enough to travel. Francis is due to travel to Portugal at the start of August and Mongolia at the end of that month.
"He will be able [to carry out his duties] better than before because he no longer will have the discomfort. He will be a stronger pope," Alfieri said.
"He already has resumed working. We asked him to rest a bit and I am certain that this time he will listen to us a bit more because he has some important commitments, which he told us he would respect."
The pontiff has suffered a series of health issues since his election in 2013, from hip problems, knee pain and weight gain to an inflamed colon and respiratory infection.
This was his third stay in hospital since 2021.
All eyes will be on Pope Francis to see how he manages the return to a normal schedule once home.
His agenda is particularly busy over the coming months, with trips to Portugal and Mongolia in August.
The programme for his visit to Portugal from 2 August for World Youth Day in Lisbon is packed, with around 20 meetings and a number of events.
The pope traditionally takes all of July off, with the Sunday blessings his only public appearances, so he will have next month to rest before his trips.
The head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, is regularly forced to reduce his schedule due to health problems.
In July 2021, he underwent surgery at the Gemelli for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of small bulges or pockets that can develop in the lining of the intestine.
He was also hospitalised for three nights in March with a respiratory infection.
In recent months, rumours about his possible resignation have intensified.
He has repeatedly said he would consider stepping down if his health failed him, following the example of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Francis acknowledged in July 2022 that he needed to slow down.
"At my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church," he said.
"Or, alternatively, to think about the possibility of stepping aside."
In March, however, he insisted that he had no current plans to quit.
