Holy Father Reacts Well to Colon Operation

Statement by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni

Holy Father Well
Hospital Gemelli © Vatican Media

The Holy Father is doing well following Sunday evening’s colon surgery at A. Gemelli Policlinic in Rome.

“The Holy Father, who was admitted to A. Gemelli Polyclinic in the afternoon, underwent the scheduled surgical operation for diverticular stenosis of the sigma this evening,” according to the statement by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni. “The Holy Father reacted well to the operation, conducted under general anesthesia and performed by Professor Sergio Alfieri, with the assistance of Professor Luigi Sofo, Dr. Antonio Tortorelli, and Dr. Roberta Menghi.


“Anaesthesia was conducted by Professor Massimo Antonelli, Professor Liliana Sollazzi and Drs. Roberto De Cicco and Maurizio Soave. “Professor Giovanni Battista Doglietto and Professor Roberto Bernabei were also present in the operating theatre.”

The Gemelli University Hospital (Italian: Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli) is a large general hospital in Rome, Italy. With 1575 beds, it is the second-largest hospital in Italy, the largest hospital in Rome, and one of the largest private hospitals in Europe. It serves as the teaching hospital for the medical school of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (the largest privately owned university in Italy, founded in 1921 in Milan), and owes its name to the university founder, the Franciscan friar, physician, and psychologist Agostino Gemelli. The hospital provides free medical assistance as part of the Italian national health system as well as paid-for “private” assistance in dedicated hotel-style wards.