Pope Francis has undergone a three-hour surgery to repair a hernia “without complications,” the Vatican has said.
The pontiff, 86, was put under general anesthesia for the operation and he will stay at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for several days.
The pope underwent what the Vatican said was a “laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis” to treat a “recurrent, painful and worsening” constriction of the intestine. An earlier statement said Francis was suffering from a blocked laparocele, which is a hernia that formed over a previous scar.
“The stay at the health facility will last several days to allow for the normal post-operative course and full functional recovery,” the Vatican said. Even when unconscious in the hospital, the pontiff still retained his status as being in charge of the Vatican. All of the pope’s private and general audiences had been cancelled until 18 June.
In July 2021, Francis spent 10 days at Gemelli to remove 33 centimetres (13 inches) of his large intestine. He had suffered what the Vatican said was a severe inflammation and narrowing of the colon. In an interview with The Associated Press in January, Francis said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, that prompted that surgery, had returned.
Francis had undergone medical tests at the same hospital on Tuesday, but appeared at his weekly general audience on Wednesday. The pontiff appeared in good form, though, at his audience in St. Peter’s Square, greeting the faithful. He also had two meetings in the morning beforehand, the Vatican said. The pope’s schedule has been busy of late, involving multiple meetings each day.
The pope had also spent three days at the Gemelli hospital in late March. Initially, the Vatican said he had gone in for scheduled tests, but the pontiff later revealed he had felt pain in his chest and was rushed to the hospital where bronchitis was diagnosed. He was put on intravenous antibiotics and was released at the start of April, quipping that he was “still alive.”
Speaking previously about his 2021 surgery, he bemoaned that he hadn’t responded well to the general anesthetic used in the procedure. The fact that he is returning for surgery suggests that his medical team believed there was little choice but to treat the intestinal issue.
The Argentine pope had part of one lung removed when he was a young man. He also suffers from sciatica nerve pain and has been using a wheelchair and walker for more than a year because of strained ligaments in his knee.
Francis is expected to have a number of trips across the summer. That includes a four-day visit to Portugal the first week of the month and a similarly long trip to Mongolia starting 31 August.
On Tuesday, the Vatican released the planned itinerary for Francis’ visit to Portugal for World Youth Day events from 2 August to 6 August, suggesting that the trip is still on. The itinerary confirms a typically busy schedule that includes all the protocol meetings of an official state visit plus multiple events with young people and a day trip to the Marian shrine at Fatima.
Associated Press contributed to this report
