Pope Francis to leave hospital Friday: Vatican
Published Jun 15, 2023 12:44 pm
VATICAN CITY, Â Holy See -Â Pope Francis, 86, will be discharged on Friday from the Rome hospital where he underwent abdominal surgery last week, the Vatican said.
"The medical team that is following Pope Francis has confirmed the Holy Father's discharge" from Rome's Gemelli hospital for Friday, it said in a statement Thursday.
Francis spent the morning Thursday thanking the doctors and nurses who have looked after him.
He did the rounds in a wheelchair, according to photographs released by the Vatican, and visited children in the paediatric oncology and child neurosurgery department.
He also had supper on Wednesday with those who have been caring for him, the Vatican said.
Francis underwent a three-hour operation at the Gemelli hospital on June 7.
The pope, who had colon surgery in 2021, had been suffering from a hernia on the site of a scar from a previous surgery.
He was placed under general anaesthesia and the abdominal wall was repaired with a surgical mesh.
All papal audiences have been cancelled until June 18 to give the pontiff time to recover.
Francis, who has been the leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics for a decade, has suffered increasing health issues over the past year and his hospital stays have sparked concern and fuelled speculation over his future as pontiff.
Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died in December, stepped down in 2013 due to failing health.
The pope is staying in the papal suite at the Gemelli hospital, which is the favoured choice of pontiffs to the point of being dubbed "Vatican III" by John Paul II.
Francis stayed there in July 2021, when he underwent surgery for a type of diverticulitis, an inflammation of small bulges or pockets that can develop in the lining of the intestine.
He was discharged after 10 days, but in an interview in January, he said the diverticulitis had returned.
Francis was also hospitalised for three nights at the end of March with a respiratory infection, which was cured with antibiotics.
He has also suffered with recurring knee pain, which has forced him to rely on a wheelchair and gain weight.