He Pope Francisco was discharged this Friday and returned to the Vatican to continue his recovery after being operated at the Gemelli hospitalof Rome from an abdominal hernia on June 7.

the pontiff He left at 8:00 a.m. in a wheelchair and they were waiting for him, in addition to the media, dozens of people. The Pope, who smiled at all of them, was escorted to the car by the surgeon who operated on his abdominal hernia, Sergio Alfieri. “I’m still alive,” he told reporters. He then referred to the migrants who died in the shipwreck off the coast from Greece. “So much, so much pain”, she has expressed about the tragedy in the Ionian Sea.

Alfieri has assured the media that the pontiff “is fine, better than before“, referring to the pain caused by the abdominal hernia, and that the recovery in the Vatican will continue although “he has already resumed work.” He has also indicated that the pope has confirmed all the trips (Mongolia and Lisbon) and “he will be able to cope better because he does not have the discomfort he had before”. “Be a stronger dad than before,” added the surgeon.

During the 9 days of hospitalization The medical team reported that the pontiff’s postoperative period was proceeding regularly. is the third time that the pope is admitted to the Roman hospital, since he was also hospitalized for three nights at the end of March for “acute pneumonia” and was operated on that same roman hospital on July 4, 2021 in the colon and discharged after 10 days followed by a slow recovery.

This Thursday, the Pope thanked all the Gemelli staff for his attention and visited the department of Pediatric Oncology and Pediatric Neurosurgery, where some children who transmitted Your honey in recent days through numerous letters, drawings and messages wishing him a speedy recovery.

Alfieri told a news conference on Saturday that the pope’s postoperative course was good, but that he had been advised against celebrate publicly the angelus from the hospital to avoid efforts that put the safety of mesh healing that has been placed on the abdominal wall. He also stressed that “the Pope has not had any kind of heart problem or suffered a heart attack” and explained that two months ago he had a small problem (pneumonia) “as he can have any 86 year old person, but there is practically no type of treatment, the only problem is the knee”.

The medical team had advised him to remain hospitalized for his full recovery at least all this week but Francisco decided to be discharged on Friday to continue his recovery in the Vatican. The Vatican had canceled all the pope’s activities until June 18, maintaining the rest of the acts for the following days. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and that of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-CanelThey have already announced a trip to Rome to meet the pontiff next week.