Pope Francis, 86, returns to work day after being released from hospital

Pope Francis returned to official duties a day after being released from the hospital for a respiratory infection.

The pontiff, 86, opened the celebration Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday (April 2), presiding at his first ceremony after his three-day hospital stay for bronchitis.

Francis wore a long, ivory-coloured coat as he was driven into the square aboard a pope mobile.

Scores of prelates, priests and tens of thousands of faithful worshippers clutching palm fronds or olive branches filled the square.

His last appearance on St. Peter's Square was for his regular Wednesday public audience hours before falling ill and being taken to Rome's Gemelli Policlinic.

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