Pope Francis gestures as he leaves after the weekly general audience on the day he is due to undergo abdominal surgery, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi, the latest in a number of health problems for the 86-year-old pontiff.The Vatican said on Wednesday the pope needed an operation to repair a laparocele, a hernia that sometimes forms over a scar, usually resulting from surgery. It can also be caused by obesity or weakness of the abdominal wall muscles.
In July 2021, the pope had 33 cm of his colon removed in a six-hour operation that was aimed at addressing a painful bowel condition called diverticulitis. He said earlier this year that the condition had returned. In an interview with Reuters last year, he dismissed as "court gossip" rumours that cancer had been found during the 2021 surgery.When he was 21, the then Jorge Bergoglio developed pleurisy and had part of one of his lungs removed in Argentina.this year, the pope was taken to hospital after complaining that he had difficulty breathing. He recovered swiftly after receiving antibiotics for bronchitis.
He also developed a separate, painful knee problem, but told Reuters last July he opted against surgery because he did not want a repeat of long-term negative side effects from anaesthesia that he suffered from the 2021 colon operation. Instead, he has looked to overcome the problem with laser and magnet therapy.
In 2022, he was forced to cancel trips to Lebanon, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan because of his walking problems. He rescheduled the Africa trip and went to both countries earlier this year.or a cane and his waistline has noticeably increased due to a more sedentary lifestyle in the Vatican.Pope Francis said in 2021 he saw a psychiatrist in his native Argentina when he was a young priest who helped him deal with anxiety during the time of the military dictatorship.