With thousands cheering him on, Pope John Paul II returned to the Vatican on Sunday, two weeks after undergoing throat surgery to ease his breathing problems and hours after greeting pilgrims in a voice that was raspy but raised hopes that he would fully recover.

The 84-year-old pope crossed himself just before he left Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic in a gray Mercedes minivan with tinted windows rather than in the glass-paneled popemobile he used after a previous hospitalization last month.

A television camera inside the van showed John Paul on his way back to Vatican City and he waved through a partially open window at the thousands of Romans and tourists lining the nearly three mile route.

"Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for your visit," the pope said. "To everyone, have a good Sunday and a good week."

It was the first time since his Feb. 24 operation to insert a breathing tube in his windpipe that John Paul addressed the faithful in remarks carried live.

The Vatican's brief statement made clear that the pope was not cured but was well enough to continue his recovery back at St. Peter's. The Holy See said last week that John Paul would be released in time for Holy Week celebrations, which begin on March 20 with Palm Sunday and culminate a week later with Easter.

Source: Agencies