After a 10-day stay following an abdominal operation, Pope Francis, 86, left Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Friday morning to return to the Vatican, where his health is expected to be further watched ahead of a very busy summer. .
The Argentinian Jesuit left the Gemelli Polyclinic in a wheelchair at 8:45 a.m., smiling, welcomed by a crowd of faithful and journalists massed at the entrance of the establishment.
“Still alive,” he replied to a reporter asking how he felt. In a large crowd, he delivered a few greetings and thanks before returning to his white Fiat 500, surrounded by an imposing security device.
After two stops, including one at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the Pope returned to the Vatican. He will celebrate the Angelus prayer on Sunday, but his weekly general audience next Wednesday is canceled to allow him to rest, the Holy See said.
He will also resume his hearings and appointments from Monday.
Hip problems, knee pain, operations, respiratory infection: the Argentinian Jesuit has experienced recurring medical problems since his election in 2013.
Jorge Bergoglio underwent a three-hour operation on June 7 under general anesthesia to reabsorb painful “adhesions” on his abdominal wall, consequences of his colon operation in July 2021 which had already resulted in a ten-day hospitalization.
Throughout his recovery, the Vatican published daily health reports intended to be reassuring, mentioning a “regular evolution”, a good clinical picture and “normal blood tests”.
“The Pope is fine. He is better than before, ”said his surgeon, Sergio Alfieri, who greeted him on his departure.
In addition to rest, the pope had also returned to work from his room on the 10th floor of the Gemelli, known as the “hospital of the popes”, in the same room used on numerous occasions by John Paul II.
On Thursday, he visited the pediatric oncology and pediatric neurosurgery department at the bedside of young patients, some of whom had sent him letters, drawings and messages of speedy recovery.
furious rhythm
After lung surgery at the age of 21, the head of the Catholic Church is regularly forced to lighten his schedule due to health problems.
In recent months, rumors about the possibility of a renunciation of his office and his succession have redoubled in intensity.
Because it is the third hospitalization of the pope in less than two years. At the end of March, he had already returned to Gemelli Hospital for a respiratory infection, which had required antibiotic treatment for three days.
“I am still alive! “, he had already replied, smiling at the journalists and faithful massed around the hospital when he left.
He said he kept “after-effects” from the anesthesia of 2021, which prompted 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.
Despite these repeated medical alerts, François maintains a busy schedule and a steady pace, with sometimes a dozen appointments in the same morning.
He also continues to travel, with a particularly full agenda in the coming months. The program of his long-awaited visit to Portugal in early August for World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon includes around twenty meetings and eleven speeches.
He is also due to travel to Mongolia in early September and to Marseille, in the south of France, on September 23.