Pope Francis undergoes second abdominal surgery in two years

Pope Francis was undergoing surgery in a Rome hospital for the second time in less than two years on Wednesday, this time to repair a hernia most likely caused by scars from an operation in 2021. Francis, 86, gave no sign that he was about to enter hospital for planned surgery during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square, where he was in good spirits, stopped to kiss babies and lingered to chat with newlyweds. Shortly afterwards, he left the Vatican in a simple white Fiat 500 L for the Catholic-run Gemelli hospital a short drive away and which has a 10th-floor suite reserved for popes. The surgery, which the Vatican said was scheduled to begin in the early afternoon, is the third hospital stay for Francis since cardinals chose the Argentinian in 2013 as the first Latin American pope. It is the latest in a string of health problems in recent years. A Vatican source said all of the pope’s private and general audiences had been cancelled until June 18. In his 2021 stay there, however, Francis recited the traditional Sunday prayer from a hospital balcony. A statement, which was unusually detailed by Vatican standards, said he was expected to stay for “a number of days” to allow for “normal post-operation progress and full recovery of his functions”. It said the operation was necessary to repair a laparocele, a hernia that sometimes forms over a scar usually resulting from a previous surgery. It is more common in older people and it can also be caused by obesity or weakness of the abdominal wall muscles.