The first major operation Pope Francis underwent was in Argentina, when he was 21 years old and still a seminarian. He had a lung condition. They took out a liter and a half of water and removed three cysts in this organ.
DR. JUAN CARLOS PARODI
Surgeon
He had vanishing lung syndrome and had a lung lobe removed. But he recovered very well.
In 1980 he almost died, when he was 43 years old and was the Jesuit Provincial in Argentina. He had gangrene of the gall bladder and had to undergo emergency surgery.
DR. JUAN CARLOS PARODI
Surgeon
He was really very sick, with a severe infection, high temperature and he was dehydrated. I told him that he needed fluids, antibiotics and surgery because the infection was already in the biliary system. The pain was mainly in the right upper quadrant, which is where the gallbladder is. The diagnosis was more or less clear. It was not inconclusive. And the inflammation indicated that the abdominal lining was involved.
Decades later, in 2021, he underwent another operation for diverticulosis. The pope had to have 33 centimeters of his colon removed in a scheduled surgery that lasted six hours.
These last two operations left traces in his intestine and in 2023 he underwent surgery again.
DR. SERGIO ALFIERI
Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic
This afternoon the Holy Father at Gemelli hospital underwent scheduled surgery for an incarcerated laparoscopic work at the scars from previous surgeries in past years.
We proceeded to clear these adhesions, these internal scars and we unraveled—what we doctors say—the skin that was attached to the adhesions that was causing this intestinal difficulty.
In 2023 he also spent time in the hospital because of respiratory problems. This situation was never fully resolved, or rather, his breathing problems were again a concern in the winter of 2024 and 2025.
His knee problems are also notorious, which did not make things any easier. The pope did not undergo surgery, but he did indicate that he was going to undergo infiltrations on some occasions.
JH
