On Sunday evening, Pope Francis underwent surgery for a colon condition called “symptomatic stenotic diverticulitis.” The elective surgery, performed at the Gemelli hospital in Rome, lasted about three hours, according to a statement by the press office of the Holy See. Francis, 84, is healthy overall and this is the first time he has been admitted to a hospital since becoming pope in 2013. He is alert and breathing on his own, according to a Vatican spokesman, and is expected to remain at the hospital for seven days. For a man of his age, the disease, surgery and expected recovery all sound reasonable, doctors said, and he should be able to make a full recovery. “That’s probably out of an abundance of caution and the fact that he’s 84.”

Source: New York Times July 05, 2021 18:22 UTC