Pope Francis leaves hospital after surgery

Pope Francis left hospital in Rome late on Wednesday morning. He was admitted there for an intestinal operation performed on July 4th.

The 84-year-old bishop left Jamili University Hospital in a car with darkened windows. At the hospital, a piece of the colon was removed during a surgical procedure under general anaesthesia.

The Holy See initially assumed that Francis would remain in hospital “for about a week” unless complications developed. The Vatican released pictures of the pope walking around the hospital’s pediatric ward on Tuesday.

The British channel ITV reported on its website that the Pope had half of his colon removed due to a narrowing of the intestine. The Argentine writes that he has several weeks to recover before he begins traveling again in September. He plans to visit Hungary and Slovakia in September and will be briefly in Glasgow in November for the climate conference.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi sent his “emotional wishes for a good recovery” to the Pope on Monday, and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar also wished Francis a “speedy recovery”.