Pope discharged following abdominal surgery

Pope Francis was discharged from a hospital in Rome on Friday, after undergoing abdominal surgery last week.

The 86-year-old pontiff spent nine days at Gemelli hospital, following surgery to repair a hernia. The pope’s medical team said there were no complications with the procedure and that his “post-operative course and recovery is regular,” according to Vatican News, the Holy See’s official news service.

“The pope is well. He’s better than before,″ Sergio Alfieri, the doctor who performed the pope’s surgery, said Friday, according to The Associated Press.

Pope Francis took a detour on his return to the Vatican to pray at Rome’s Marian Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, like he did after his hospitalization for bronchitis in April and his colon surgery in July 2021.

The pope will make his routine Sunday appearance to recite the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square but will not hold a general audience on Wednesday to “safeguard the Holy Father’s post-operative recovery,” according to Vatican News.