Pope Francis signed the letter on June 9, two days after undergoing a three-hour operation for an incisional hernia. A team of surgeons removed scar tissue and operated on a hernia in the Pope’s abdominal wall at the site of a previous surgical incision.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on June 11 that Pope Francis’ “post-operative progress” is normal. He added that the pope watched Sunday Mass on television and received the Eucharist in his hospital room before praying the Angelus in the chapel of the papal medical room and having lunch with some staff members of the hospital
The 86-year-old pope is expected to remain in recovery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital for the next week. The Vatican has canceled all of the Pope’s audiences, including his Sunday Angelus address, until June 18.
In his message to the European People’s Party, the Pope said he sees human brotherhood as “the great inspiring principle” to face the challenges of migration and caring for the planet.
“I believe that fraternity can also be a source of inspiration for those who want to revive Europe today so that it fully responds to the expectations of both its peoples and the whole world. Because a European project today can only be a global project”, said Francis.
The European People’s Party is a centre-right political group in the European Union, made up of 40 parties from across Europe, including the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the Republicans of France, Forza Italia of Italy, the Popular Party in Spain and Ireland’s Fine Gael.
