(Rome) Pope Francis, 86, is to be operated on for an abdominal hernia under general anesthesia on Wednesday afternoon in Rome, amid regular concerns about the health of the Argentine pontiff.
This surgical intervention will lead to “several days” of hospitalization, said in a press release the director of the Vatican press service, Matteo Bruni.
After presiding over the general audience in St. Peter’s Square as every week and greeting the faithful aboard his “Popemobile”, the pope was taken under police escort to the Gemelli hospital, in the north-west of the Italian capital, where he arrived at the end of the morning, noted AFP.
At the beginning of the afternoon, he must undergo a surgical operation of laparotomy (incision of the abdomen) and installation of a prosthesis, specified Mr. Bruni.
“The operation, organized in recent days by the medical team assisting the Holy Father, has become necessary due to an abdominal hernia that causes recurrent, painful and worsening subocclusive syndromes”, he said. -he adds.
The Secretary of State and N.2 of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, clarified that this operation did not involve “any vacancy or temporary replacement of the pope in the exercise of his functions”.
After the operation, his ministry will resume, “even if it is from a hospital bed,” he told reporters. “In case of urgent files, they will be brought to him at the Gemelli Hospital. »
Medical background
On Tuesday, the head of the Catholic Church had already gone to the Gemelli hospital for medical “examinations”, but the Vatican had not specified for what reasons.
In July 2021, the Bishop of Rome had already been hospitalized for ten days in this hospital for a left colectomy, consisting in the removal of part of the colon.
He claims to have kept “after-effects” of anesthesia, which have pushed him to rule out knee surgery so far, which he has suffered for many months.
In January, he had revealed again to suffer from diverticulitis, an inflammation of the diverticula, hernias or pockets which form on the walls of the digestive system.
Having undergone lung surgery at the age of 21, affected by hip and knee problems, Francis, elected pope in 2013, is regularly forced to lighten his schedule due to health problems, which fuel concerns and speculation.
At the end of March, he had already returned to Gemelli Hospital for a respiratory infection, which had required antibiotic treatment for three days.
Two weeks ago, during an interview with the Spanish-speaking television Telemundo, he confided that this “pneumonia” had been treated “in time”. “If we had waited a few more hours, it would have been much more serious,” he admitted.
Travel and busy schedule
After his operation on Wednesday, the pope should once again stay on the tenth floor of the Gemelli hospital reserved for popes, in the same room as that used on numerous occasions by John Paul II.
Jorge Bergoglio also suffers from chronic knee pain, which forces him to move around in a wheelchair or using a cane.
In recent months, speculation about the possibility of a renunciation of his office and his succession has redoubled in intensity.
He has repeatedly said he would consider resigning – like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died in December – if his health were to fail, but recently claimed that was not on the cards.
Despite these repeated medical alerts, Francis keeps a busy schedule at the Vatican, with sometimes a dozen appointments in the same morning.
He also continues to travel: he must go to Portugal at the beginning of August, to Mongolia at the beginning of September and to Marseilles on September 23.