Pope Francis has had abdominal surgery at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.
The Vatican said there were no complications after the three-hour surgery, during which the Pope was under general anaesthetic.
The pontiff, 86, is expected to remain in hospital for several days. The Pope had been suffering from a “painful and worsening” hernia that formed over a previous scar.
"The operation is over: it went without complications and lasted three hours," the Vatican press office said in a short statement posted on Telegram.
Before the surgery, the Vatican said doctors would perform a “laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis” to treat a “recurrent, painful and worsening” constriction of the intestine.
In July 2021, the Pope spent 10 days at Gemelli to remove 33cm of his large intestine to treat severe inflammation and narrowing of the colon.
In an interview in January, he said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, that prompted the 2021 surgery, had returned.
He appeared in good form on Wednesday morning and attended two meetings before his audience in St Peter’s Square.
A laparotomy is open abdominal surgery. It can help a surgeon diagnose and treat issues.
“The stay at the health facility will last several days to allow for the normal post-operative course and full functional recovery,” the Vatican said.
Pope Francis went to the Gemelli on Tuesday for medical tests.
In late May, he cleared his schedule after coming down with a fever, two months after he was treated for bronchitis in hospital.
The Argentinian pope had part of his lung removed when he was a young man.
He also suffers from sciatica nerve pain and has been using a wheelchair and walker for more than a year because of strained ligaments in his knee.
Pope Francis has had a packed schedule of late, with several audiences each day.
The Vatican recently confirmed a busy August, when the Holy See and Italy are usually on holiday, with a four-day visit to Portugal in the first week of August and a similarly long trip to Mongolia starting on August 31.
In a sign that those trips were likely to go ahead, the Vatican released the planned itinerary for his visit to Portugal.
10 years of Pope Francis – in pictures
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It is 10 years since Pope Francis became head of the Roman Catholic Church. The National looks back at that decade. Getty Images -
Pope Francis attends the funeral mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in January 2023 at St Peter's square in Vatican City. Getty Images -
Pope Francis leads mass with the new cardinals in August 2022 at Vatican City. Getty Images -
Pope Francis in March 2021 conducts mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil, Iraq. Getty Images -
Pope Francis arrives at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil, Iraq, March 2021. Getty Images -
St Peter's Square stands empty while Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Mass in an empty St Peter's Basilica during the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020. Getty Images -
Pope Francis drives around Tokyo Dome before conducting mass during a visit to Japan in November 2019. Getty Images -
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, who was Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces at the time, with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai and Pope Francis at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi, in February 2019. Photo: Ministry of Presidential Affairs -
Pope Francis celebrates mass at Zayed Sport City, Abu Dhabi, in February 2019. Getty Images -
Pope Francis attends the festival of families at Croke Park in August 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. Getty Images -
Pope Francis during the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in March 2018 in Rome. Getty Images -
The Pope at a public engagement in November 2017 in Yangon, Myanmar. Getty Images -
Pope Francis at the Celebration of the Lord's Passion at St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, April 14, 2017. Getty Images -
Pope Francis at Easter Mass at St Peter's Square, Vatican City, April 2017. Getty Images -
Pope Francis with Prince Charles, Prince of Wales during the British royal's visit to the Vatican in April 2017. Getty Images -
Pope Francis meets migrants at the Moria detention centre in Lesbos, Greece, April 2016. Getty Images -
Father Paschal Mwijage of the St Joseph the Worker Parish in Nairobi's Kangemi slum wears a T-shirt featuring Pope Francis in Kenya in November 2015. Getty Images -
Pope Francis after conducting mass at Tacloban Airport in the Philippines, January 2015. Getty Images -
Pope Francis greets Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St Peter's Basilica in September 2014. Getty Images -
Pope Francis meets football legend Diego Maradona during an audience in Rome in September 2014. Getty Images -
Pope Francis prays by the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel, May 2014. Getty Images -
Pope Francis welcomes Britain's Queen Elizabeth II for a private audience in Rome, April 2014. Getty Images -
Pope Francis during his weekly audience in St Peter's Square, the Vatican, in March 2014. Getty Images -
Pope Francis during the Inauguration Mass for the Pope in St Peter's Square in March 2013. Getty Images -
Women read a special edition of L'Osservatore Romano newspaper, which carries a photograph of the newly elected Pope Francis, March 2013. Getty Images -
Pope Francis on the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica in March 2013. Getty Images
It confirms a typically busy schedule that includes all the protocol meetings of an official state visit, as well as youth events and a day trip to the Marian shrine at Fatima.
