Pope surgery went ‘without complication’, says Vatican

Pope Francis underwent a successful three-hour operation on his abdomen, the second time in two years he has needed major surgery.

Pope Francis underwent an operation for an abdominal hernia at a Rome hospital, where he is expected to stay for "several days", the Vatican said.

Pope Francis underwent a successful three-hour operation on his abdomen yesterday (Wednesday), which was completed without complications, the Vatican said.

The procedure was performed under a general anaesthetic and was the second time in two years that the Pope has undergone major abdominal surgery.

The Vatican said the Pope, 86, would probably be in the Gemelli Hospital for several days and had cancelled all engagements until June 18. His surgeon, Sergio Alfieri, said yesterday (Wednesday) that the Pope was awake and that “he has already cracked a joke”.

The procedure, a laparotomy, was intended to repair a hernia the Vatican said was causing “recurrent, painful and worsening” symptoms. It is believed to be related to the surgery the Pope had in 2021 , during which 13 inches of his colon was removed.

On that occasion the Pope spent ten days in hospital recovering from the longer-than-expected operation to address a painful bowel condition caused by diverticulitis.

The Pope said in an interview in January that the diverticulitis, which causes bulges in the intestinal wall, had returned. He said he had not responded well to general anaesthetic and has since been reluctant to undergo surgery to repair strained ligaments in his knee, which have forced him to use a wheelchair and walk with a cane for more than a year.

The Pope underwent initial tests in hospital on Tuesday but appeared in good form at his audience in St Peter’s Square yesterday (Wednesday) morning, greeting the faithful from his Popemobile and conducting two meetings.

The Vatican said the Pope was suffering from a blocked laparocele, which is a hernia that has formed over a previous scar.

The Pope spent three days in the same hospital in March, when he required treatment for a lung infection, an illness that coincided with the tenth anniversay of his election to the papacy. The Vatican initially said the Pope had gone in for scheduled tests, but it was later revealed he had felt pain in his chest and was diagnosed with bronchitis after being rushed to the hospital.

He responded well to antibiotics, but the episode brought criticism of the Vatican press office for its hermetic announcements.

The Pope had part of a lung removed as a young man and has been vulnerable to chest infections in later life. He was forced to cancel several work commitments in late May after becoming debilitated by a fever.

In 2019, he had an operation on his eye at Rome’s Clinic of Pius XI to treat a cataract and he has also struggled with chronic pain caused by sciatica.

His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, resigned in 2013, citing his declining health, but Francis has dismissed suggestions he might follow his example. “You don’t run the Church with a knee but with a head,” he commented.

The Holy See recently confirmed a busy schedule of papal travel in August, with a four-day visit to Portugal during the first week of August and a trip to Mongolia beginning August 31.

On Tuesday, the Vatican released the planned itinerary for the Pope’s visit to Portugal for World Youth Day events on August 2-6, indicating the trips were expected to go ahead. Those trips will have to be reviewed in the light of the Pope’s recovery from his latest surgery.

If the Pope were incapacitated for a significant length of time it could cause practical problems for the Catholic Church, because there is no deputy with authority to rule in his absence. The Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, can oversee routine day-to-day management, but has no power to appoint bishops.

The Pope told the Spanish daily ABC in December that he had prepared a letter of resignation in the case of permanent medical incapacity shortly after his election in 2013.

He was quoted as saying: “I have already signed my renunciation. The secretary of state at the time was Tarcisio Bertone. I signed it and said: ‘If I should become impaired for medical reasons or whatever, here is my renunciation.’”

THE TIMES