Pope Francis’ surgery, performed under general anesthesia, was completed without complications, the Vatican announced today.
“The intervention was completed, it took place without complications and lasted for three hours,” announced the press service of the Holy See. Due to the surgical intervention, the pope will stay in the hospital for several days.
Earlier, it was reported that as a precaution, the pope’s duties were canceled until June 18 so that the 86-year-old pope would have time to recover.
An operation for a hernia in the abdominal wall was performed. Hernia surgeries are rarely performed on an emergency basis, but this procedure seems to have been quite urgent as it was scheduled just a day after the Pope went to the hospital for check-ups. His doctors probably wanted to give him plenty of time to recover ahead of a full travel schedule this summer.
The Pope has been suffering from a painful and worsening hernia that has formed over an earlier scar, believed to be from his colon surgery in 2021. Experts say hernia formation is a known complication of bowel surgery.
The Pope went to the Dzhemeli Hospital yesterday for previously unannounced check-ups, returned to the Vatican and held an audience this morning and then went straight back to the hospital for a surgical procedure.
According to church law, the pope remains the head of the Vatican and the Catholic Church with 1.3 billion followers even when he is unconscious in a hospital.
(Beta)