Pope Francis, hospitalized in Rome since June 7 after an abdominal operation, will leave the hospital on Friday morning, the Vatican announced Thursday.
On the advice of the medical team and after a “regular” clinical evolution, the 86-year-old Argentine Jesuit will leave the Gemelli Polyclinic “tomorrow morning, Friday June 16,” reported the director of the Holy See Press Office , Matteo Bruni, in a statement.
“The medical team reports that Pope Francis rested well during the night. The postoperative period is uneventful. Hematochemical analyzes are normal. [O papa] He will leave the Gemelli Polyclinic on Friday morning,” nine days after the operation, Bruni added.
This Thursday, the Pope thanked all the staff of the Gemelli clinic, known as the “hospital of the popes”, in the same room on the 10th floor that John Paul II used on many occasions, for the care provided in recent days and visited the hospital’s Pediatric Oncology and Pediatric Neurosurgery departments.
Photographs released by the Vatican show Jorge Bergoglio, whose hearings were canceled until the 18th of this month, in a wheelchair greeting patients and staff in the hospital corridors.
On Wednesday night, Jorge Bergoglio had dinner with the people who have assisted him since the operation.
On Wednesday, the Vatican press office said the pope’s clinical progress was going smoothly after his surgery on Jan. 7, and that the medical team was “planning his discharge for the next few days.”
“The Pope dedicated himself to his work activities [na manhã de quarta-feira]. Before lunch, he went to the chapel in his private room, where he spent time in prayer and received the Eucharist,” the Vatican added.
On the 7th of this month, the Pope underwent three-hour abdominal surgery under general anesthesia, which was uneventful.
In March, Francisco was hospitalized for a few days at the Gemelli Hospital with bronchitis.
The pope’s health has been the subject of debate since he made it clear he would be willing to resign if illness prevented him from doing his job, as his predecessor Benedict XVI did in 2013.
The Pope suffers from cataracts, sciatica and osteoarthritis in his right knee, which has forced him to use a wheelchair on numerous occasions.
After the colon operation on July 4, 2021, he reacted to speculation: “I’m still alive, some prelates wanted me to die, they were already preparing the conclave [para eleger um sucessor].”
Francisco underwent lung surgery at the age of 21 and has been suffering from hip and knee problems and is forced to reduce his hours regularly due to health issues.
Source: TSF
