Pope Francis recovering in hospital after abdominal surgery

Pope Francis is recovering in hospital having undergone a three-hour operation without complications to repair a hernia, the Vatican has said.

"He even joked with me about when we would do the third operation," said Dr Sergio Alfieri, the chief surgeon at Rome's Gemelli hospital – who also carried out a first abdominal operation on the pontiff in 2021.

The surgeon said that Francis, 86, had reacted well to general anaesthesia and that he expected the pontiff to spend around a week in hospital. But he cautioned that the pope recently had bronchitis so the hospital “will take all necessary precautions” regarding the timing of the hospital stay.

His only warning to the pope was that he should not lift any heavy objects. “He looked at me as if to say ‘I’m the pope. I don’t lift weights,’” Dr Alfieri said.

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.

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 are said to have 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 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. This includes a four-day visit to Portugal during the first week of August and a similarly long trip to Mongolia starting 31 August.

On Tuesday, the Vatican released the planned itinerary for Francis's visit to Portugal for World Youth Day events from 2 August to 6 August. 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.

Dr Alfieri said he saw no medical reason why the pope would have to change his schedule.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report