As planned, Pope Francis has been discharged from the Policlinico Gemelli hospital in Rome early this Friday morning after recovering favorably from the operation for an abdominal hernia that he underwent last week. The Pontiff will be able to return to his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta.
The 86-year-old Pope left the hospital, where he had been admitted nine days earlier, in a wheelchair, smiling, waving and thanking a crowd of supporters. Whereupon he rose to his feet so that he could get into the little Vatican car that was waiting for him.
