Pope Francis, 86, is facing new health problems. Two months after hospitalization for pneumonia, the pontiff will be operated under general anesthesia this Wednesday in Rome for a risk of intestinal obstruction, announced the Vatican.
This surgery on Wednesday, made "necessary" by the worsening of the symptoms presented by the pope according to his medical team, will lead to "several days" of hospitalization, said in a statement the director of the press service of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni.
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On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that the pope was going to the hospital for scheduled examinations, before admitting that he had difficulty breathing and was suffering from an infection requiring antibiotic treatment.
Pope Francis said two weeks ago in an interview with Spanish-language television Telemundo that this "pneumonia" had been treated "in time." "If we had waited a few more hours, it would have been much worse," he said.
As for his knee pain, which requires him to use a wheelchair or a cane, he said he feels "much better." "Some days are more painful than others, like today, but that's part of recovery," he said.
Speculation on the possibility of a waiver of his charge
The pope, whose health appears increasingly fragile, had also canceled his appointments on May 26 due to a feverish state, which had not required hospitalization. He resumed his activities the next day.
In July 2021, the bishop of Rome had already been hospitalized for ten days for a heavy colon operation. He claims to have kept "after-effects" of anesthesia, which led him to rule out knee surgery so far.
The health of Jorge Bergoglio, elected in 2013, regularly fuels speculation about the possibility of relinquishing his office and his succession.
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He has repeatedly said he would consider resigning — like his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died in December — if his health faltered, but he said recently that this was not the case.
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Despite these twists and turns, Francis continues to travel: the Vatican on Tuesday published the program of his visit to Portugal from August 2 to 6, on the occasion of World Youth Day (WYD), which will see the pontiff visit Lisbon and the Marian shrine of Fatima.
The pope is also scheduled to visit Mongolia in early September, as well as Marseille on September 23.
