Pope Francis is doing well, he is continuing his recovery in hospital after an operation on his abdomen, but he will not publicly celebrate the Angelus prayer on Sunday, surgeon Sergio Alfieri, who operated on him, announced on Saturday. “He has no fever, all cardiorespiratory functions are normal,” the surgeon told reporters.
But to avoid efforts that put tension on the muscles of the abdominal wall, such as getting out of bed or sitting down, the doctors recommended that he not celebrate the Angelus prayer in public, that is, say not to try to go to the window of his room in the Gemelli Hospital where he is to recite the prayer and bless the faithful. “Pope Francis has no heart problem at the moment, he has never had one in the past (…) so the heart is fine,” insisted Sergio Alfieri.
Hearings canceled until June 18
“Generally, after an intervention of this kind, we remain hospitalized for 4-5 days. We hope to convince him to stay all next week because this convalescence in the hospital will allow him to return to his work with more strength and security”, added the surgeon. He recalled that Pope Francis cannot like other 86-year-olds come home to watch television and rest, but that he has activities and responsibilities as head of state and head of Catholics. However, he acknowledged that the final decision will be up to François who will decide when he wants to leave the hospital.
His convalescence is aimed at “the smallest possible effort of the abdominal wall” to allow the best possible healing of the muscles and the prosthesis to integrate into the tissues of the abdomen because “if the prosthesis tears, he must return to the room of operation and it will not please him or me, ”launched the expert. The Argentinian Jesuit was operated on Wednesday under general anesthesia, for three hours, in order to absorb painful “adhesions” on his abdominal wall, consequences of his colon operation in July 2021.
He remains for the moment on the 10th floor of the Gemelli, known as the “hospital of the popes”, in the same room as that used on numerous occasions by John Paul II. His hearings have been canceled until June 18. Having undergone 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.