ROME (AP) — Pope Francis was discharged Friday from the Rome hospital where he underwent abdominal surgery to repair a hernia and remove scarring from previous operations, with his surgeon saying the pontiff was “better than before” his nine-day hospitalization.
Francis, 86, left through Gemelli Polyclinic’s main exit in a wheelchair, smiling and waving and saying “thanks” to a crowd of well-wishers. He stood up to get into the small Vatican car awaiting him. In the brief distance before reached the white Fiat 500, reporters thrust microphones toward his face.
The pope seemed to bat the mics away, good-naturedly. “Still alive,” Francis quipped when asked how he was doing. As he smiled and shook hands, his face looked wan and thinner than usual.
When a reporter asked for a comment about the sinking of a crowded migrant boat off Greece that claimed dozens of lives and left hundreds missing, he replied: “So much sorrow.”
Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who performed the pontiff’s three-hour operation on June 7, was outside the hospital along with the surging crowd as Francis exited.