The Pope’s hospitalization at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome for a scheduled surgery, announced as a surprise a few hours after the Angelus, is a “first” for Francis. But the practice of the Holy See, for some time, has been to say things as they are. In fact, it has been specified that it is a “symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon”, that is, a narrowing of one of the final sections of the intestine due to the infection of small pockets that form in its wall, the diverticula. At the surgical level, the problem is solved by cutting a section of the colon, an operation therefore not particularly complex. But it is the Pope. To whom a piece of the tenth floor of the Gemelli has always been reserved, the same one where John Paul II was hosted.
In fact, Francis is the second Pontiff to be hospitalized, in the entire history of the Popes, at the University Polyclinic of the Catholic University. As is known, the Polish pope had a very difficult health path, with seven accesses to the Polyclinic and long hospital stays. So much so that at a certain point he coined the famous expression the “Third Vatican”, referring precisely to Gemelli, after San Pietro and Castelgandolfo.
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The ambulance ride (without siren) on May 13, 1981
The best known hospitalization is certainly the one following the attack by Mehmet Alì Agca in St. Peter’s Square: John Paul II is wounded in the abdomen and in one hand, while vital organs are spared. The decision to take him to Gemelli and not to the nearest Santo Spirito was made by the doctors of the health management, led by the archiatrist Buzzonetti but also the secretary Don Stanislaw, who boarded an ambulance which at a certain point broke down. the mermaid. Upon arrival, the pulse was almost imperceptible. After the surgery he was discharged within two weeks, on June 3, but on June 20 he had to be hospitalized again for a viral infection (“cytomegalovirus”) probably contracted with blood transfusions during the emergency operation. During this second hospitalization (55 days), on 5 August, he underwent another minor surgery. He was discharged on August 14 and the operation on intestinal cancer in 1992 Years later, at the age of 72, the Pope underwent a major surgery by the team of doctors, led by Francesco Crucitti, for the removal of an intestinal tumor. The medical bulletin speaks of a “colonic resection surgery for bulky tubovillosal adenoma of the sigma, with modest and local cytological alterations referable to moderate dysplasia”. The cancerous mass, the size of an orange, was beginning to turn malignant. On this occasion, the gallbladder is also removed for some stones. Stays at the Gemini 18 days. Also in 1992 the unmistakable symptoms of Parkinson’s disease began to emerge, a disorder of the central nervous system from hand shaking to stiffening of the facial muscles. Over time, secondary symptoms appear, such as difficulty in pronouncing words and breathing problems. A year later, on July 2, 1993, he underwent a CT scan after the 1992 surgery.
The fall in 1993, the slip in the bathroom the following year
Also in 1993 Wojtyla in the Nervi room fell on the steps during an audience, causing a dislocation in his right shoulder. For a few weeks he wears a light plaster cast, on which he even manages to joke: “The Pope greets you – he said to the faithful – he is a Pope a little disabled, but he is still in one piece, and is not yet dead”. The following year, on April 28, 1994, she slips into the bathroom and fractures her right femur. Admitted to Gemelli, the surgeon Fineschi replaces the head of his femur with a prosthesis. The hospitalization, after the surgical operation on the bone, lasts a month, and for over a year he will walk leaning on a cane. He will have to cancel a trip to the United States scheduled for October. But another surgery will come two years later: in 1996 appendicitis.
The hospitalizations in 2005 and the disappearance
Other health problems afflict him over time, but we arrive at 2005, the year of his disappearance. In February, the laryngeal complications of the flu lead Pope to hospital; but admission to the intensive care unit is not necessary. He was discharged on 10 February. Only 14 days after the end of the previous hospitalization, due to a relapse of respiratory problems, John Paul II is again hospitalized at Gemelli for an elective tracheotomy. For a few days the Pope, to whom a cannula has been applied to the trachea, cannot speak, but on Friday 11 March, on the occasion of the visit of two bishops from Tanzania, he presides over a Mass during which he pronounces the first public words after the intervention. of which a video is broadcast by the Ctv. The first words that John Paul II spoke in front of the camera were those of the blessing: “Our help is in the name of the Lord”. On Sunday, after the “double” Angelus (the official recitation conducted by Mons. Sandri in St. Peter’s Square; the Pope looks out and blesses at the Gemelli), the Pope’s surprise greetings: “Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for the your visit … I greet you in Christ … Happy Sunday and a good week to all ”. Exultation of the crowd who shouted: “Long live the Pope!”. At 12.50 Navarro Valls announces the Pope’s return to the Vatican in the afternoon.