MAILONLINE BLOG: Follow the latest updates on the Pope's health after his condition worsened in hospital following two respiratory crises.
Pope Francis returned to the Vatican after a five-week hospital stay for pneumonia, marking his first public appearance. Before heading home, he visited the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pray and placed flowers he received from a woman who prayed for him daily outside the hospital before the icon of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani. During his public appearance, he expressed sadness over the Israeli bombings in Gaza and called for a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
