After a 5-week hospital stay that triggered fears of a potential papal resignation, Pope Francis returned to the Vatican Sunday. The big picture: But now, two months of rest and recovery prescribed by his doctors begin — just weeks out from Easter Sunday and the holiest days of the Catholic Church's year.

Pope Francis was released from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he has been battling double pneumonia for the past five weeks, on Sunday, returning to the Vatican where he will continue his recovery.

Pope Francis made his first public appearance in more than five weeks on Sunday, waving to a crowd from his window at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital where he was hospitalized with pneumonia in both lungs since Feb.