ROME, June 9, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Pope Francis has started working again after 
spending another good night in hospital following hernia surgery, the Vatican 
said Friday.

Francis, 86, underwent a three-hour operation at the Gemelli hospital in Rome 
on Wednesday, and was said to be cheerful when he woke up.

The head of the Catholic Church had breakfast Friday before spending "most of 
the morning in an armchair" rather than in bed, the Vatican said.

"This allowed him to read the newspapers and start working again," it said in 
a statement.

His post-operative recovery was proceeding as expected, it added.

On Thursday the pope called to thank the mother of a little boy he had 
baptised while both the pope and the boy were being treated at the Gemelli at 
the end of March, after the family sent him a poster wishing him a speedy 
recovery.

At the time, the pope had been hospitalised for three nights with a 
respiratory infection, which was cured with antibiotics.

In July 2021, he also underwent surgery at the Gemelli for a type of 
diverticulitis, an inflammation of small bulges or pockets that can develop 
in the lining of the intestine, spending 10 days in hospital.

This time, the pontiff had been suffering from a hernia on the site of a scar 
from a previous operation, his surgeon Sergio Alfieri told reporters after 
the operation on Wednesday.

He was placed under general anaesthesia and the abdominal wall was repaired 
with a surgical mesh, Alfieri said.

All papal audiences have been cancelled until June 18 to give the pontiff 
time to recover.

Francis has been head of the worldwide Catholic Church since 2013, when his 
predecessor Benedict XVI became the first pope since the Middle Ages to 
resign, citing his failing mental and physical health.