ROME (AP) – Pope Francis was discharged from hospital in Rome on Friday, where he underwent abdominal surgery to repair a hernia and remove scars from previous surgeries. His surgeon said the Pope was “better than before” his nine-day hospital stay.
Francis, 86, exited the clinic in a wheelchair through the main exit of Gemelli Polyclinic, smiling and waving and saying “thank you” to a crowd of well-wishers. He got up to get into the small Vatican car that was waiting for him. Just before he reached the white Fiat 500, reporters held microphones in his face.
The pope seemed to slap the microphones away good-naturedly. “Alive,” Francis quipped when asked how he was doing. As he smiled and shook his hand, his face looked paler and thinner than usual.
When a reporter asked for comment on the sinking of an overcrowded refugee boat off Greece that left dozens dead and hundreds missing, he replied: “So much sadness.”
dr Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who performed the Pope’s three-hour operation on June 7, was with the crowd outside the hospital when Francis left the hospital.
“The Pope is fine. “He’s doing better than before,” Alfieri told reporters after saying goodbye to Francis and the pope getting into the car.
After the surgery and his recovery, Francis will be “stronger,” the doctor said.
The Vatican Press Office announced that Francis would hold his traditional Sunday lunchtime at an Apostolic Window overlooking St. Peter’s Square to greet the public, an appearance lasting about ten minutes.
But his usual Wednesday morning general audience with thousands of faithful in the square “has been canceled to ensure the Holy Father’s recovery after surgery,” the announcement said. The general audience lasts about an hour and includes a speech by the Pope.
Instead, Francis will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva on Wednesday afternoon, the Vatican said.
Instead of returning directly to the Vatican, Francis stopped to pray for 10 minutes before an icon of the Virgin Mary in the famous Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which he often visits to give thanks after trips abroad. He also went there after being discharged from the same hospital earlier in the year after being treated for bronchitis.
Tourists in the basilica excitedly snapped photos of the pope sitting in a wheelchair while he prayed. Several people in the crowd outside cried as he left and made his way to the Hotel of the Holy See, where he lives on the Vatican City grounds.
Before returning home, Francis made two more stops – first at a convent next to the Vatican to greet nuns, and then outside one of the city-state’s walled city gates to get out of his car to shake hands with police officers and thank them for providing a motorbike escort.
Hours after the operation, Alfieri said the scars left by previous abdominal surgeries caused the Pope increasing pain. There is also a risk of intestinal obstruction if adhesions or scar tissue are not removed, the doctors said.
According to the Pope’s medical staff, no complications arose during the operation or during the Pope’s convalescence at Gemelli’s 10th-floor apartment, which was reserved exclusively for the hospital treatment of papists.
Alfieri said that when Francis decided to have the surgery in June, he expected to be back on his feet in time for a planned trip to Portugal in August. “He has confirmed all his travels,” the surgeon said.
“Actually, he will be able to deal with them better than before because now he will not have the discomfort that he had,” said Alfieri.
In addition to the pilgrimage to Portugal in early August for a Catholic youth gathering, Francis is planning a trip to Mongolia on August 31, the first visit by a pope to this Asian country.
In just under two years, Francis was hospitalized three times at the Gemelli Polyclinic. In July 2021, he underwent surgery to remove a 33-centimetre (13-inch) section of bowel due to a narrowing of his colon.
This, along with abdominal surgeries years ago in his native Argentina before he became pontiff, contributed to the painful scarring, according to Alfieri.
Francis was back in the hospital this spring to receive intravenous antibiotic treatment for bronchitis. As a young man, Francis had part of a lung removed after an infection in his native Argentina.
Prior to this month’s surgery, Francis seemed to be able to walk better with the help of a cane after months of being confined to a wheelchair because of a painful knee problem. He also suffered from sciatica, a painful inflammation of a nerve that runs from his back down his leg.
On Friday, Alfieri expressed confidence that the pontiff would keep up his pace as he resumed his busy days at the Vatican.
“He’s going to listen to us a little more because he has important commitments that he has confirmed, including travel,” the surgeon said.