After 18 days spent at Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital as a result of throat surgery, Pope John Paul II returned to the Vatican on March 13 with thousands cheering him on. Though his health continues to deteriorate, the Vatican has disclosed that the worst is over in this most recent health crisis. The 84-year-old pope was hospitalized on Feb. 24 for a tracheotomy, having a breathing tube inserted or replaced. Australia’s Herald Sun reports that this tube may remain in his throat for the rest of the pope’s life.

The operation was meant to facilitate recent breathing problems. The pope is also recovering from the flu.

Medical experts say the pope is suffering from the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease – a progressive disease causing deterioration of the brain and shaking of the appendages. Sources report that it has been difficult for him to speak clearly for years. In addition, he suffers from arthritis as well as hip and knee problems and is confined to a wheelchair.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that the Vatican’s statement announcing the pope’s release made clear that while the pope’s breathing problems have not been cured, recovery will continue via breathing and speech rehabilitation therapy at St. Peter’s Cathedral.

“The Holy Father, in agreement with the attending physicians, will return to the Vatican this evening, where he will continue his convalescence,” the Vatican disclosed March 13, according to The New York Times.

Though the pope made three previous public appearances from his tenth-floor window, his departure from the hospital marked his first public statement since the hospitalization began. According to the AP, the pope read that statement from a sheet of paper. “Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your visit,” he said. “To everyone, have a good Sunday and a good week.”

Doctors have advised that the pope speak only sparingly, “to promote a better recuperation of the function of the larynx,” said the pope’s chief spokesman, Joaqu¡n Navarro-Valls, The New York Times reports.

As a result, Pope John Paul II has delegated senior cardinals to preside at nearly all Holy Week services. This is the first time he has done so during his 26-year papacy. Holy Week, beginning Palm Sunday, March 20, and ending on Easter Sunday, March 27, is one of the busiest periods of the Roman Catholic Church’s calendar.

News.com.au reports that while John Paul II’s advisers have yet to decide in what way the pope would be able to take part in ceremonies Easter Holy Week, he is expected to deliver his Urbi et Orbi (to Rome and the World) blessing in person on Easter Sunday.

While Peter Stanford of the London Sunday Times describes Rome as being on “death watch,” Foreign Policy magazine suggests that a successor to John Paul – born Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland- “must embrace science, reject globalization, reach out to the Islamic world – and brush up on economics.”

Foreign Policy strives to explain how the world works, (especially) how the process of global integration is reshaping nations, institutions, (and) cultures,” according to their website, foreignpolicy.com.

USA Today reports that the process of selection of a new pope can be complicated. Cardinal electors sequester themselves three weeks after the death or resignation of a pope. For up to 16 days, the cardinals use a secret ballot system to try to select a new pope. A candidate needs a two-thirds majority vote to be selected during this time.

If a candidate does not receive majority in this method, the two candidates with the most votes go through one last ballot, requiring only an absolute majority of half-plus-one votes to be elected. Two hours after the final vote, the new pope makes his first public appearance on the balcony of the Basilica in the white vestments of the papacy.

There has been no final word on the Pope’s health, though The Washington Post reports that on Oct. 16, 2003, the Pope said that God, “while knowing my human frailty, encourages me to respond with faith and invites me to assume the responsibilities that He Himself has entrusted to me.