Pope operation on hernia completed 'without complications'

Pope Francis underwent an operation on a painful abdominal hernia Wednesday, which was completed without complications but which revived concerns over the 86-year-old's increasingly fragile health.

The Argentine pontiff had been admitted earlier in the day to the Gemelli hospital in Rome, and is expected to stay for several days.

"The operation is over, it went without complications and lasted three hours," the Vatican press office said in a short statement on Telegram.

All papal audiences have been cancelled until June 18.

The pope, who underwent colon surgery in 2021, was suffering from a hernia that was "causing recurrent, painful and worsening" symptoms, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said earlier.

Francis had looked in good spirits as he led his weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday morning, waving to the gathered crowds as he did a round of St Peter's Square in his popemobile.

He then left for the hospital in his white Fiat 500 car, escorted by police.

Francis was suffering from an incisional hernia, which can form over a scar from a previous surgery, the Vatican said.

Bruni said he would be placed under general anaesthesia to undergo "a laparotomy and abdominal wall surgery", referring to a surgical incision into the abdominal cavity.

A prosthesis would be used to reconstruct the abdominal wall, and "the stay at the health facility will last several days", the spokesman said.

Francis always retains all his powers as pontiff even while unconscious.

Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said earlier that once the operation was over, "if there are things that need deciding, urgent things, they will be taken to the pope in hospital."

But all the pope's audiences have been cancelled "as a precautionary measure" until June 18, the Vatican press office told AFP.

'Vatican 3'

The pope had briefly visited the Gemelli on Tuesday for what the Vatican called "clinical tests."

The Gemelli hospital is the favoured choice of pontiffs, to the point of being dubbed "Vatican 3" by pope John Paul II, who was treated nine times there, spending a total of 153 days.

A large number of journalists had set up camp outside the hospital on Wednesday.

"Do not be afraid, we are with you," read a message on social media from children at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) paediatric hospital, published with drawing of the pope in a hospital bed.

Francis, who has been the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics for a decade, has suffered increasing health issues over the past year.

In July 2021, he underwent surgery at Gemelli for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of small bulges or pockets that can develop in the lining of the intestine. He was discharged after 10 days, but in an interview in January, he said the diverticulitis had returned.

Francis was also hospitalised for three nights at the end of March with a respiratory infection, which was cured with antibiotics. The pope's hospital stays have sparked concern and fuelled speculation over his future as pontiff.

Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died in December, stepped down in 2013 due to failing health.

Side effects

For about a year, Pope Francis has had to rely on a wheelchair because of recurring knee pain. He has said he does not want to have an operation on his knee because of the side-effects he suffered from the general anaesthesia for his colon surgery.

Asked about his health in an interview with the US Spanish-language network Telemundo, broadcast in May, Francis said it was "much better." But he said that doctors had caught his respiratory infection just in time.

Francis continues to travel widely, though he acknowledged in July 2022 that he needed to slow down.

"At my age and with this limitation, I have to save myself a little bit to be able to serve the Church," he said. "Or, alternatively, to think about the possibility of stepping aside."

In March, however, he insisted that he had no current plans to quit.

On Wednesday, the Vatican released the schedule for the pope's trip to Portugal in early August, which will be followed by a trip to Mongolia starting August 31.

There was no news of a rumoured trip to Argentina, which is pencilled in for 2024.

– TIMES/AFP