Pope skips Sunday blessing, recovers from surgery

Pope Francis did not deliver his Sunday blessing in public, but his recovery from surgery is progressing normally and he has started physical therapy to help him breathe, the Vatican said.

As previously announced, the 86-year-old pontiff did not say Sunday’s traditional midday Angelus in public, but watched Mass on television, the statement said.

Doctors advised him to avoid putting pressure on his abdomen after three hours of hernia repair surgery at Rome’s Gemini Hospital on Wednesday.

“What better opportunity could there be than to be able to support the Pope at Gemelli?” said Giovanna Vitiello, from Pompeii, where she went for a medical check-up and prayed under Francis’ hospital window.

“I send him my best wishes and a hug because without him we are like lost sheep.”

Francis will remain in the hospital for at least all of this week. Spectators have been canceled until June 18th.

The Pope is planning two trips this summer, to Portugal from Aug. 2-6 and to Mongolia from Aug. 31-September. 4.

A Vatican statement on Sunday said the pope showed no signs of fever and blood levels were normal.

He also received communion, it said.

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Francis managed to recite the Angelus during his stay at the same hospital in 2021, when he also underwent abdominal surgery when part of his colon was removed to address a painful bowel condition called diverticulitis.

The pope, who has been affected by a series of health problems, said earlier this year that the condition had recurred, which was a reason for his weight gain.