Pope Francis delivers Palm Sunday mass after hospital release

April 2 (UPI) -- Pope Francis delivered his Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter's Square before tens of thousands of people, just a day after he was discharged from a hospital in Rome where he was treated for bronchitis.

Vatican News, the press arm of the Holy See, reported that an estimated 60,000 people flocked to St. Peter's Square to celebrate mass.

Francis, 86, recounted the story of Burkhard Scheffler, a homeless man from Germany who died underneath the colonnade of St. Peter's Square in November, as he delivered a message about exploitation and abandonment.

The pope was released from Gemelli Hospital in Rome on Saturday after two days of treatment for bronchitis.

Asked how he felt, Francis responded, "Still alive, you know," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The pope has been seen in a wheelchair in recent months after suffering from sciatica and knee problems and previously spent 10 days in the hospital to have part of his colon removed in 2021.