There were no reported complications, the Vatican said. It had earlier said the pope would remain in the hospital for several days. Francis reacted well to the surgery and to the anesthesia, and had already made a joke since, according to one of the doctors involved in the procedure. “He has been in pain. This wasn’t an urgent surgery …. He continued to feel the pain, so a surgery was decided yesterday,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri said at a press conference in Rome.
More recently, in 2019, he underwent ocular surgery at Rome’s Clinic of Pius XI to treat a cataract. He has also struggled with chronic sciatica pain. Over the past year, he experienced knee troubles that have largely confined him to the use of a cane or a wheelchair. Should Francis be incapacitated for any length of time, the Vatican could find itself facing something of a constitutional crisis.