Doctors say Francis needs two months of rest and convalescence at the Vatican, during which he should refrain from meeting with big groups of people or exerting himself.

A frail Pope Francis returned to the Vatican on Sunday after a five-week hospitalization for life-threatening double pneumonia, and he made a surprise stop at his favorite basilica on the way home before beginning two months of prescribed rest and recovery.

Pope Francis celebrated 12 years of his pontificate with a cake brought to him by doctors from Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he has been hospitalized since February receiving trea