Pope Francis in good condition after colon surgery, Vatican says

Pope Francis

The Vatican announced on Monday that Pope Francis is in “good general condition” a day after undergoing colon surgery. The pope had responded well to colon surgery in a hospital in Rome on Sunday evening, conquering his first major health challenge since elected to papacy in 2013.

In a short statement by the Vatican Spokesman, Matteo Bruni , disclosed that the pope  “responded well” to the surgery, which was done under general anesthesia. He further explained that the pope had been diagnosed with “symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon”, a reference to a narrowing in the large intestine.  Earlier Sunday, the pope looked calm while addressing people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly Angelus blessings and prayers. The pope announced  to the world he will be visiting Slovakia and Hungary in September, the news of his illness came as shock to many who witnessed his public appearance earlier on Sunday.

In February 2019, Francis became the first pope ever to visit the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam, in a trip meant to promote religious fraternity and peace. In his three-day visit to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, he attended the Global Conference on Human Fraternity and met with Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque and one of the highest authorities in Sunni Islam. He also celebrated a papal mass attended by an estimated 180,000 people, many of whom were Christian immigrants, in what was the largest display of Christian worship in the country’s history.