POPE Francis is a roamin’ Catholic as he leaves hospital waving from a wheelchair.
The upbeat pontiff, 86, left Rome’s Gemelli Hospital yesterday, nine days after a hernia operation — thanking the crowd of well-wishers waiting to greet him.
Surgeon Dr Sergio Alfieri revealed his patient would be well enough to make a planned visit to Portugal in August.
And asked how he was feeling, the Pope told reporters: “Still alive!”
"The pope is well. He's better than before,'' Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who carried out the three-hour operation on June 7 told reporters after he said goodbye to Francis as the pontiff got into the car.
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Tourists in the basilica excitedly snapped photos of the pontiff and several people in the crowd outside wept as he left and headed for the Holy See hotel, where he lives on Vatican City grounds.
The latest hospital stay came just as Francis seemed to be walking better, with the aid of a cane, following months of often using a wheelchair because of a painful knee problem.
He also has suffered from sciatica, a painful inflammation of a nerve that runs down from back to leg.
