The Vatican said on Tuesday that Pope Francis is expected to return to the Vatican “as soon as possible” following his stay in hospital for rehabilitation from intestinal surgery that he underwent earlier this month. However, the Vatican didn't provide a precise date in its daily medical update, repeating that the 84-year-old pope was continuing his planned course of treatment and rehabilitation.

The Vatican had originally said  Pope could be released from Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic by the weekend, but said he would extend his stay to continue his planned treatment. The 84-year-old appeared for the first time in public since the surgery on Sunday, looking in good form as he delivered his weekly prayer from the 10th floor hospital balcony. He used the occasion to call for free health care for all.

Pope Francis was later seen greeting patients in the hospital corridor, using a wheelchair.  In its statement Tuesday, the Vatican said Pope was praying especially for people who are bedridden and cannot return home. “May they live this time as an opportunity, even if experienced in pain, to open themselves with tenderness to their sick brother or sister in the next bed, with whom they share the same human frailty,” the statement said.

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