Pope John Paul II waves from the window of the hospital.(Reuters)

Rome, March 13 (Reuters): Pope John Paul spoke directly to the Roman Catholic faithful today for the first time since a throat surgery last month before his release from the Gemelli hospital in the evening.

The 84-year-old Pontiff appeared briefly at his window at the hospital and spoke a few phrases in Italian and Polish to pilgrims in the courtyard below.

?Dear brothers and sisters, welcome, thank you for your visit,? he said in clear Italian. In Polish, he then greeted pilgrims from his birthplace in the southern town of Wadowice, bringing tears to their eyes.

He concluded his brief appearance by saying in Italian: ?Greetings in Christ. A good Sunday and good rest of the week to everyone.?

The Pope left the hospital in a grey van wearing his traditional white cassock and waved to a crowd of well-wishers as he left to return to the Vatican.

The Vatican has said the Pope himself will decide what role he will play in Holy Week activities which begin on Palm Sunday, March 20, and end on Easter Sunday, March 27.

The Pope had been in hospital since February 24 when he underwent a tracheotomy, an operation to open an airway and relieve severe breathing problems.

There had been much speculation about the operation?s effect on his voice but on Sunday it was clearly recognisable.

He is undergoing breathing and speech rehabilitation therapy and is believed to still have a tube in his throat to help air get to his lungs.