Pope Francis has returned home to the Vatican after more than five weeks in hospital with pneumonia.

Looking tired and worn, the 88-year-old Catholic leader waved to a crowd outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital from a balcony, the first time he has been seen in public since he was admitted on February 14.

Francis, who had bags under his eyes, was on the balcony for two minutes before being discharged from the hospital immediately afterwards.

 The Argentine pontiff left by car wearing a cannula — a plastic tube tucked into his nostrils which delivers oxygen — an indication of the continued fragility of his health.

His doctor said yesterday that he will need at least two months of recuperation at his home in the Santa Martha guesthouse in the Vatican.