News of Pope Francis’ operation comes a day after Italian media reported that he went to the Gemelli Hospital senior center on June 6 for a 40-minute visit.
Pope Francis, 86, was hospitalized for four days in March with a lung infection and canceled all of his scheduled May 26 activities because of the fever.
Since the beginning of 2022, the pope has been suffering from knee pain. He began to have difficulty standing and walking and has been using a cane and wheelchair for over a year.
Pope Francis told Italian bishops in May last year that he did not want to have knee surgery because he did not want to recover from general anesthesia after his colon surgery in July 2021.
The Pope has also dealt this year with a recurrence of diverticulitis, a painful inflammation of protrusions in the large intestine, for which he was operated on in July 2021.
Despite his recent medical challenges, the Vatican recently announced the Pope’s intention to visit Mongolia from Aug. 31-Sept. 1.
