Pope Able to Lead Angelus After Surgery

VATICAN CITY (CNA) – Pope Francis was able to lead the Angelus from his hospital room July 11 as he recovers from intestinal surgery, the Vatican said.

The pope was at Rome’s Gemelli University Hospital after undergoing a July 4 operation to remove part of his colon.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said July 9 that Pope Francis was progressing normally in his recovery and had resumed his work from the hospital, alternating it with reading. 

The pope was also able to celebrate Mass in the chapel of his private hospital room in the afternoon on July 8, in the presence of those assisting him during his hospitalization.

“The Holy Father gives thanks for the many messages of affection and closeness that he receives daily and asks that we continue to pray for him,” Bruni said.

The Vatican said Pope Francis underwent a CT scan of his chest and abdomen on the morning of July 8, after temporarily running a fever the night before. 

Bruni said that no problems were uncovered by the scans. He also said the pope was able to move and eat unassisted and was no longer in need of intravenous treatment.

The July 9 Vatican statement said that the pope does not have a fever.

During his hospitalization, Pope Francis sent an affectionate message to the young patients in the nearby pediatric oncology and children’s neurosurgery wards, according to the Vatican.

The children returned the pope’s greeting with their own handwritten card, according to Vatican News.

The front of the paper had a colored pencil drawing of Pope Francis and inside the message said: “Dear Pope Francis, we know that you are not very well and that you are now in the same hospital as us. Even if we cannot see each other, we send you a strong hug and we wish you to get well soon.”

A girl named Giulia, who is hospitalized at the Vatican-owned Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital, also sent 

Pope Francis a greeting. On a picture of her holding his hand while he is in a hospital bed, she wrote: “Dear Pope Francis, feel my prayer like I felt yours when I was sick.”

The Vatican confirmed  the 84-year-old pope had suffered a “severe” narrowing of the colon.

The pope’s hospital room is situated on the 10th floor of the sprawling polyclinic in a wing reserved for papal medical emergencies. The pope’s medical suite can be identified from the street by its five large windows covered by white blinds. 

It is the same room where St. John Paul II stayed during many of his hospital treatments, including for a colon surgery in 1992 and his hospitalization after being shot in an assassination attempt in 1981.

St. John Paul II was admitted to the hospital so many times during his more than 25-year pontificate that he once referred to Gemelli as the “third Vatican” after Vatican City and Castel Gandolfo, the popes’ summer residence.

Pope Francis underwent a three-hour operation on the evening of July 4 in which part of his colon was surgically removed.

A 10-person medical team was involved in the procedure, during which some Italian media outlets, including the Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, reported that “complications” arose, causing the operation to be more invasive than the originally planned laparoscopy. The Vatican has not confirmed these details.

Earlier this year, the pope was forced to miss several public events due to a recurrence of the sciatic pain that struck him at the end of 2020. Pope Francis has suffered from the painful condition for several years.

Religious and political leaders around the world have expressed their well-wishes and prayers for Pope Francis as he recovers in hospital.

Archbishop José Gomez, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, offered prayers for Pope Francis’ recovery on U.S. Independence Day.

“As we paused to celebrate the 4th of July, Catholics across the United States took time to pray for the Holy Father. We join our brothers and sisters around the world in praying for the continued recovery of Pope Francis,” he said. “Lord, may our shepherd and all those in the hospital for healing in these days find strength and comfort in your love.”