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As Pope Francis marked a full week after his abdominal surgery last Wednesday, the Vatican announced that the Pontiff is expected to be discharged from the hospital “in the next few days.” While all papal audiences have been suspended until June 18, Pope Francis’ swift recovery has raised hopes that he will still be able to attend World Youth Day in Portugal.
The Vatican has been periodically reporting that the Holy Father has been resting well and "that Pope Francis’ bloodwork showed no abnormalities," but he was still undergoing “respiratory therapy.” Aleteia previously reported that as of Tuesday, June 13, Pope Francis felt well enough to get some work done and pray from his bed. He has also been able to receive the Holy Eucharist regularly.
Pope Francis is recovering from a June 7 surgery to fix a hernia in his abdomen, a procedure that took approximately three hours to complete. The operation was performed by an expert team of doctors from the Gemelli hospital in Rome, where Pope Francis continues to recuperate.
The doctors have said that their patient has been "proceeding regularly, without complications,” which allowed them to reiterate that they expect the Pope to be discharged with a clean bill of health as early as the weekend.
Pope Francis was in high spirits immediately after the procedure, displaying full alertness and even joking with the surgeon.
While the Pope may be back in his Vatican apartment by the weekend, he will likely need more time to regain all of his stamina. He has about 7 weeks to recover before his scheduled apostolic journey to Portugal for World Youth Day, where he is scheduled to remain from August 2 - 6.
Later that month, Pope Francis is scheduled to make another apostolic journey to Mongolia, where he will stay from August 31 - September 4.
