VATICAN: Pope John Paul II left hospital yesterday, ending a 10-day stay for severe breathing problems that revived concern about his fragile health and the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
Seated in a glass-topped Popemobile, the 84-year-old Pontiff waved weakly to onlookers as he drove out of Rome's Gemelli hospital with security staff running alongside his motorcade.
Hospital patients, some in their dressing gowns and slippers, lined the path and looked down from their balconies, clapping as the Pontiff passed.
The Pope was rushed to hospital on February 1st with acute breathing difficulties caused by influenza and complicated by Parkinson's disease.
The sudden deterioration of his health caused concern throughout the Catholic world that one of the most historic pontificates was coming to an end.
But the Church was cautiously upbeat throughout the past 10 days and Vatican watchers said his high profile departure from hospital, broadcast live on Italian television, was intended to show he was relatively well.
Chief Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told reporters yesterday the Pope had made a full recovery from the throat spasms that had forced him into hospital.