Pope Francis returns for Sunday address, thanks supporters after abdominal surgery

Pope Francis gave his regular Sunday address in Vatican City and thanked supporters following his nine-day hospitalization for abdominal surgery.

The appearance in front of 15,000 people at St. Peter’s Square came two days after the 86-year-old pope went home from Rome’s A. Gemelli University Hospital.

“This human and spiritual closeness for me was a great help and comfort,” Francis told the crowd Sunday. “Thanks to all, thanks to you, thanks from the heart.”

Francis had missed last Sunday’s greeting amid his recovery from a June 7 operation for issues including a hernia. His return Sunday was met with the crowd chanting “Long live the pope!”

He appeared to be in good spirits as he left the hospital Friday in a wheelchair, quipping to media members that he was “still alive.”

The operation was Francis’ second abdominal surgery since July 2021, when he underwent surgery to treat diverticular stenosis of the colon. Earlier this year, the pontiff spent three days at Gemelli Hospital with bronchitis.

His June 7 hospitalization came a day after he consulted with doctors about his abdominal condition and hours after he attended a general audience at St. Peter’s Square.

“The surgery, decided upon over the past few days by the medical team assisting the Holy Father, became necessary due to an incisional laparocele (hernia) that is causing recurrent, painful and worsening sub-occlusive syndromes,” the Holy See said in a statement at the time.

The three-hour surgery removed internal intestinal scarring, which had caused a partial blockage.

“The pope is well,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri, who performed the procedure, told reporters Friday. “He’s better than before.″

With News Wire Services