John Paul II writes a Thank You letter to all those who helped him recover.

Rome (AsiaNews) – The Pope will be back in the Vatican today. This morning the director of the Vatican's press office Joaquín Navarro-Valls said that the Pope had recovered from his throat spasms and will leave the Gemelli Hospital later on Thursday.

The 84-yearl-old Pope was rushed to the hospital on Feb. 1 with acute breathing problems caused by the flu. Now that there are no complications, the Vatican spokesman said, the Pope's return to the Vatican is expected "during the day", a day ahead of what was expected.

In the press release, Joaquin Navarro-Valls said that the "laryngo-tracheitis which motivated the urgent hospitalisation of the Holy Father, has been cured".

"The improvement of his general condition is progressing favourably. In the last two days, all the diagnostic checks, including a CAT scan, have allowed other pathologies to be excluded. The Pope's return to the Vatican is expected during the day."

Dr Navarro-Valls added that the Pope would send a letter of thanks to all those who helped him recover—doctors, nurses, nuns, technicians and auxiliaries—especially Prof Rodolfo Proietti, in charge of anesthesiology and reanimatology and director of Emergency and Admission (DEA), who coordinated the medical team with Prof Massimo Antonelli, Prof Gaetano Paludetti (otolaryngology) and Prof Filippo Crea (cardiology).

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