The 86-year-old pope was at a hospital in Rome for the second time in as many weeks.
Pope Francis is preparing for abdominal surgery at a hospital in Rome, the Vatican press office said.
“The Holy Father went to the Gemini University Hospital, where in the early afternoon he will undergo a laparotomy and abdominoplasty,” read a statement from the Vatican on Wednesday.
The Vatican said the medical team assisting the pope had agreed to the operation a few days earlier because of “recurrent, painful and exacerbated sub-occlusive syndrome caused by a tear in the incisional hernia”.
The 86-year-old pope is expected to spend “a few days” in hospital to make a full recovery.
This is the second time Francis has been admitted to hospital in recent months.
In late March, a throng of TV news crews and reporters gathered in front of the Gemini, where the pope was recovering from bronchitis. He was discharged from the hospital three days later.
In July 2021, he underwent almost two weeks of delicate bowel surgery at the same hospital.
Francis, who was born in Argentina, became pope in 2013 after the resignation of then Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world.
Francis is the first pope from the so-called global south, a term that refers to large parts of Latin America, Africa and Asia that are now home to most of the world’s Christians.
He removed some of the opacity from the Vatican and opened the Catholic Church closer to the people.
In recent years, Francis has focused on calling for peace amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago. He offered to act as an intermediary between the two warring parties and offered to visit Kiev and Moscow.
“I am willing to do everything that has to be done. There is a mission that is in progress, but it has not been made public. When it is made public, I will reveal it,” the pope told reporters after a visit to Hungary in April.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi concluded a two-day visit to Ukraine on Tuesday at the Pope’s request.
The Vatican peace envoy met and spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The results of these talks … will be brought to the attention of the Holy Father and will undoubtedly help in assessing the steps to continue at the humanitarian level and in the search for a just and lasting peace,” the Vatican said.
