Pope Francis, hospitalised in Rome since the 7th of this month due to abdominal surgery, was discharged and left hospital today, the Vatican announced.
Jorge Bergoglio, 86, left the Gemelli Polyclinic in a wheelchair at 08:45 (07:45 in Lisbon), smiled, waved, thanked a crowd of the faithful, and got up to get into the Vatican car that was waiting for him.
On June 7, the pope had three-hour abdominal surgery under general anaesthetic to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring, which went without complications.
“The pope is fine. He is better than before,” Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who performed the three-hour operation, told reporters after escorting Francis to his car.
The Vatican had cancelled all audiences for the Argentine until Sunday, but the presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, have already announced trips to Rome to meet the pope next week.
In March, Francis was hospitalised for a few days at 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 working, as his predecessor Benedict XVI did in 2013.
The pope has suffered from cataracts, sciatica and arthritis in his right knee that has forced him to use a wheelchair on many occasions.
After his colon operation on 04 July 2021, he reacted to speculation: “I am still alive, some prelates wanted me to die, they were already preparing the conclave [to elect a successor]”.
Francis underwent lung surgery at the age of 21 and has suffered from hip and knee problems and is regularly forced to reduce his schedule due to health problems.
The pope is expected in Lisbon for World Youth Day, considered the Catholic Church’s biggest event, from August 1 to 6 in Lisbon, with around 1.5 million people expected to arrive in the city, almost three times the local population.
