The Vatican says that Pope Francis is progressing normally after undergoing a three hour surgery on Sunday. 84 year old Pope Francis underwent a left hemicolectomy, a procedure in which one side of the colon is removed; following the surgery, he is said to have slept well and even got up to walk on Tuesday with his routine tests reported as being good.
Francis is said to have scheduled Sunday’s surgery for the start of July, a month in which he is said to traditionally slow down, cancelling all public and private audiences. His only public commitments in July are his Sunday blessings in St. Peter’s Square; it is still not clear if he will leave the hospital in time to recite them or if he will preside from his window at the Gemelli hospital in Rome where he is expected to stay for seven days to address any complications. The Catholic-run Gemelli hospital and medical school in the northern part of Rome traditionally treats popes and a part of its 10th floor is permanently reserved for them.
Pope Francis’ Sunday surgery was for symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon, a condition more common in older people that leads one to endure pain and inflammation. This is the first time Francis has been hospitalized since his election as pope in 2013