Pope Francis: the time he was close to death and the ills that afflict him throughout his 86 years

He Pope Francisco He underwent surgery under general anesthesia, without complications, for an abdominal hernia. The intervention lasted three hours and all the hearings that he had scheduled until June 18 have been cancelled. He is currently at rest.

On Wednesday morning, the Vatican issued a statement announcing this operation. “At the end of the General Audience this Wednesday, June 7, the Holy Father Francisco went to the Agostino Gemelli Hospital, where in the early afternoon he will undergo, under general anesthesia, a laparotomy and plastic surgery of the abdominal wall with prosthetics,” they said.

Vatican statement on Pope Francis.

“The operation, arranged in recent days by the medical team that assists the Holy Father, became necessary due to an incarcerated laparocele that is causing recurrent, painful, and worsening subocclusive syndromes,” the announcement said.

The Vatican also said that Pope Francis would stay hospitalized for several days as part of the post-operative phase and to allow him to recover.

An 86-year-old man and the time he was close to death

Pope Francis is 86 years old, uses a wheelchair and in July 2021 underwent a delicate colon operation.

That surgical intervention had the purpose of removing a portion of the colon to reduce problems caused by small hernias, according to AFP details.

In 2023, Pope Francis was hospitalized for three days due to respiratory problems at the Gemelli Hospital. “If we had waited a little more hours, it would have been more serious,” he said about it in an interview with Telemundo.

The pope’s health has also deteriorated due to knee problems, according to AFP. Years ago it was known that he suffered from chronic sciatica and was seen limping, however the Argentine doctor and journalist Nelson Castro points out in his book “The health of the potatoes” that this limp was due more to a flat foot.

Facts about Pope Francis. Source: AFP

Pope Francis was close to death at the age of 21 from pleurisy. Due to this condition, they had to remove some cysts from his lung in 1957, according to his biographer Austen Ivereigh. From this harsh memory, the Pope said that he understood how terrible a person with coronavirus could feel, alluding to difficulties breathing.

“They have to fight to breathe through artificial respirators,” Pope Francis told Austen Ivereigh at the time.

The biographer also detailed to The Tablet Catholic newspaper that Francisco, when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, suffered from back pain and went to a Chinese acupuncturist.

Austen Ivereigh also indicated that the pope had a temporary heart problem in 2004. This was due to a slight narrowing of an artery. He also had a liver problem that could be resolved.

Source: Elcomercio