Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni announced that the procedure is linked to symptomatic diverticular disease.
It is unclear when exactly the surgery will take place. The spokesman confirmed that a statement in this regard will be issued at a later time. The treatment will be carried out by the professor. Sergio Alfieri. Clinic Gemelli is located in Rome. Francesc is the second pope after John Paul II to be hospitalized at this facility.
It is unofficially known that the procedure will take place on Sunday. He was not informed when the Pope would leave the Roman hospital.
For the first time since the beginning of his pontificate in 2013, surgery was reported.
July is the month of partial rest for the Pope. General audiences were suspended on Wednesday. Francis will meet the faithful only for Sunday prayer.
Pope Francis is 84 years old. He had serious lung problems in his youth. In the book “Let’s Go Back to Dreams” he mentions his illness as follows:
“When I became seriously ill at the age of 21, I first experienced limitations, pain, and loneliness. It changed the way I saw life. For months I didn’t know who I was or whether I would live. I remember hugging my mother asking, ‘Just tell me if I’m going to die’ At the time, I was in my second year at the Diocesan Seminary in Buenos Aires, preparing for the priesthood.
I remember that date. It was August 13, 1957. I was taken to the hospital by the governor who realized that my illness was not an ordinary flu that was treated with aspirin. There they immediately took a liter and a half of water from my lungs and I kept fighting for my life. In November, I had surgery and the upper right lobe of one of my lungs was removed.”
See also: Francesc: I’ve been through three “blasphemers” in my life
