2023-06-08 09:09:59
Pope Francis, 86, begins Thursday a convalescence of several days the day after an operation for an abdominal hernia, which has revived questions about his health.
The Argentinian Jesuit, who the Vatican said had a good night’s sleep, has had recurring medical problems since taking over from Benedict XVI in 2013, who resigned for health reasons and died in December at the canonical age of 95. years.
Francis has repeatedly said he would consider resigning — like Benedict XVI — if his health were to fail, but he recently claimed that was not on the cards.
Limping due to pain in the hips and one knee, most often now moving in a wheelchair or leaning on a cane, François had presided over the weekly audience on Wednesday morning in Saint-Pierre in front of thousands of faithful, before going at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
He was operated there on Wednesday afternoon under general anesthesia, for three hours, in order to absorb painful “adhesions” on his abdominal wall, consequences of his colon operation in July 2021.
A “benign” intervention that will not leave any sequelae, according to his surgeon. The pope woke up at the end of the afternoon joking with his doctors, said Professor Sergio Alfieri, who had already operated on him in 2021, during a press conference on Wednesday evening.
François, who was suffering from increasingly severe pain and took the decision to have the operation himself, “does not suffer from other illnesses”, he also assured.
The Pope is expected to spend several days on the 10th floor of this establishment known as the “Hospital of the Popes”, in the same room used on numerous occasions by John Paul II.
“All precautions”
According to Dr. Alfieri, this type of intervention generally requires “five to seven days” of convalescence, but “every precaution” will be taken for the health of the head of the Catholic Church.
His hearings have also been canceled until June 18 “as a precautionary measure,” the Vatican said.
Lung surgery at the age of 21, affected by hip and knee problems, François 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 the Gemelli Hospital for a respiratory infection, which had required antibiotic treatment for three days and caused deep concern, compounded by confused communication from the Vatican.
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.
Jorge Bergoglio also suffers from chronic knee pain, which forces him to move around in a wheelchair or using a cane.
In recent months, rumors about the possibility of a renunciation of his office and his succession have redoubled in intensity.
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 busy schedule in the coming months: he is due to go to Portugal in early August, to Mongolia in early September and to Marseille on September 23.
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