Recuperating Pope Francis to skip Sunday’s public prayer
By Mary Ouko, June 13, 2023
Pope Francis will skip Sunday’s customary public prayer and blessing, on doctor’s advice.
The 86-year-old underwent a three-hour-long operation on Wednesday, using general anesthesia. Doctors removed increasingly painful scarring that resulted from previous abdominal surgeries as well as repaired a hernia in the abdominal wall, with the insertion of a prosthetic support netting, or mesh.
He will therefore pray the noon (UTC +2) prayer in his hospital room, and faithful are encouraged to join in the prayer.
Many in Vatican city wished him a speedy recovery: “We are praying for the Pope, for his health, and we pray to God that the Holy Spirit will heal him soon,” father Michele, a Catholic priest from Democratic Republic of Congo said.
“As human beings we all encounter this, health issues, therefore we are praying. Praying for him”, Kenyan religious sister Gentry added. While in 10th-floor apartment reserved for papal use at Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, the Argentinian bishop has graduated from a liquid to a semiliquid diet and had no fever, according to his medical staff.
No date has yet been announced for his release from the hospital.
Blood and imaging tests indicate that the pope’s recovery is proceeding in an “absolutely normal” manner, Sergio Alfieri, who operated on the pontiff, also told reporters on Saturday at Gemelli Polyclinic.
– Xinhua
“We hope we will convince him to stay at least the whole next week,’’ the doctor added.