A candle with the image of Pope Francis is left in front of the windows of the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome, Sunday, June 11, 2023, where Pope Francis is recovering from the abdominal surgery he underwent on Wednesday. Pope Francis, following doctors' advice, skipped Sunday's customary public blessing to allow him to better heal after abdominal surgery.
ROME — Sticking to doctors’ advice, Pope Francis on Sunday skipped his customary Sunday noon public blessing as he convalesces from abdominal surgery, but he followed Mass on TV from a Rome hospital and prayed in private, the Vatican said. Francis also ate lunch in his 10-floor hospital apartment with doctors, nurses, other medical staff and members of his Vatican security detail, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a written statement.
The surgeon who performed the three-hour surgery Wednesday to repair an abdominal hernia and to remove painful internal scarring that had resulted from previous operations said the 86-year-old pontiff had begun a semi-liquid diet.