Pope Francis skipped public prayers Sunday as he recovered from Wednesday’s three-hour operation that repaired an abdominal wall hernia, the Vatican said.
The 86-year-old pontiff remains in a special suite reserved for popes at Gemelli University Hospital in Rome. At the time he entered the hospital last week, Vatican officials said all papal audiences were canceled through June 18.
In 2021, after his initial abdominal operation that removed a portion of his colon, Francis appeared at a balcony to recite prayers, but his doctor noted Saturday that was “seven days after the operation and not three,” according to media reports.
“The medical staff has informed us that the post-operative recovery of Pope Francis is normal,” the Holy See press office said Sunday, according to an official Vatican News report. No fever was reported, and Francis’ blood pressure and heart rate are “stable,” they said.
He viewed Mass “live on television and received the Eucharist,” the report stated. Francis “then went to the chapel in his private [hospital] apartment, where he gathered in prayer for the recitation of the Angelus.”
The news agency reported that the pope subsequently had lunch “with those who are assisting him” during his recovery, including medical staff and security guards. He also “underwent respiratory physiotherapy and continued to move about.”
Later Sunday, the press office issued an update: “The afternoon went well; Pope Francis was able to take a few steps. He devoted himself for a few hours to work, interspersed with rest and prayer.”
Sundays are usually high-profile days for the pope when he is in Rome, where he appears before thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square to offer a homily, recite the Angelus and bless the crowd.
The seriousness of the surgery, and concerns about possible internal injuries if Francis moved too much after the operation, led physicians to “avoid” excessive movement, media reports said. The operation took place one day after a surprise visit by the pope to Gemelli for a checkup.
According to Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper, Dr. Sergio Alfieri, head of the hospital’s digestive surgery unit, told reporters Saturday they had persuaded Francis to skip a public recitation of the Angelus so as not to risk damage to the medical netting placed in his intestines.
The surgeon said the pope doesn’t have any heart problems and has never had those in the past. He said Francis “does not have important pathologies,” despite a bout with pneumonia at the end of March that kept him at Gemelli for three days.
Following his release from the hospital and resumption of work, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis will still make official visits to Portugal in early August for World Youth Day and then Mongolia at the end of the month.
On Thursday, Cardinal Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington tweeted that medical reports following the operation were “hopeful,” and said: “His doctor’s comment that Pope Francis has maintained a sense of humor is a sure sign the surgery was successful. Let’s now keep him close in prayer.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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