The pontiff left through Gemelli Polyclinic's main exit in a wheelchair, smiling, waving and saying “thanks” to a crowd of well-wishers.
He then stood up to get into the small Vatican car awaiting him. In the brief distance, before he reached it, reporters thrust microphones toward his face.
But Francis seemed to bat the mics away, good-naturedly.
"Still alive,'' Francis quipped when asked how he was doing.
