religion
After surgery: For the first time, no public Sunday prayers from the Pope
Pope Francis is still recovering from his abdominal surgery. photo
© Andrew Medichini/AP/dpa
Pope Francis recently had abdominal surgery. Although his condition has improved in recent days, he did not pray from the balcony in St. Peter’s Square today. How is the head of the church?
Pope Francis continues to recover from his abdominal surgery. Four days after the operation, the head of the Catholic Church was still free of fever and the other health values of the 86-year-old were also normal, as the Holy See announced.
Francis did physiotherapeutic breathing exercises. Surgeon Sergio Alfieri had already announced on Saturday that all of the patient’s vital signs corresponded to expectations and that there was no reason to worry. Francis was advised by the doctors to remain in the clinic for the whole of the coming week.
consequences of the surgery
Because of the consequences of the surgery, Francis was unable to speak the weekly Angelus prayer in public for the first time in his more than ten-year pontificate. He usually prays from a balcony of the Apostolic Palace in front of believers in St. Peter’s Square. In the summer of 2021, he said the prayer after an intestinal operation on the balcony of Gemelli Hospital. During the Corona period, believers were not allowed to come to the pope for a long time, but his prayer was broadcast online.
Because this time he wasn’t supposed to get up after the operation and was therefore not supposed to strain the operated stomach, which was supported with an implanted plastic mesh, he decided not to make a public appearance. He watched Mass on television in the papal private apartment in the hospital, prayed in a small chapel, and then had lunch with doctors, nurses, and bodyguards. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni reported. On Saturday he had been given somewhat solid food for the first time.
The head of the Catholic Church had an operation on Wednesday for a so-called laparocele, a hernia in the intestine. According to Alfieri, the pontiff survived the three-hour procedure and the general anesthesia well.