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Pope Francis Will Miss Weekly Sunday Blessing
Pope Francis has been asked by medical professionals to avoid giving his Sunday benediction from a hospital balcony.
They said that the pontiff is doing well after his three-hour abdominal hernia surgery on Wednesday at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
Briefing reporters on Saturday, surgeon Sergio Alfieri said the 86-year-old would not perform the weekly blessing to avoid strain on his abdomen.
He added the Pope would stay in hospital for all of next week, according to BBC.
Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the Pope would instead say the traditional noon Angelus prayer from his hospital suite and urged the world’s Catholics to join him.
“Only three days have passed. We asked the Holy Father to be prudent and avoid the strain [of standing at the balcony]”, Dr Alfieri told reporters.
He added that the Pope had a mesh prosthetic inserted into his abdominal wall to help it heal and doctors want it to settle and attach properly to avoid another operation if it breaks.
“You can understand how that would not be pleasing for him, and for me,” Dr Alfieri joked. “Each time he gets out of bed and sits in an armchair puts stress on the abdominal walls.”
But he insisted that Pope Francis remained in good spirits, and had started eating a diet of semi-solid foods again.
BBC said the pontiff did not have a fever, the doctor said, adding that his heart rate and blood pressure were stable.
Pope Francis, who was chosen by cardinals to lead the Catholic Church after his predecessor Pope Benedict resigned in 2013, has faced a host of health issues in recent years.
Due to knee pain, he regularly uses a cane and wheelchair to get around, and in March he spent three days in hospital to treat a lung infection.
In 2021, he spent 10 days in hospital after having a part of his colon removed, while last month he pulled out of his Friday audiences due to a fever.
But while his predecessor Benedict XVI quit the role citing health issues – becoming the first Pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years – Pope Francis has dismissed the possibility of leaving office too.
“You don’t run the Church with a knee but with a head,” he is said to have told an aide last year.
In general, it is believed that the Pope’s health was good during his decade as head of the Catholic Church.
He keeps a full schedule and is scheduled to travel to Portugal and Mongolia starting in August.
The Vatican has disclosed that Pope Francis died of a stroke, which caused a coma and irreversible heart failure, according to his official death certificate released on Monday.
The 88-year-old pontiff passed away on Monday morning, nearly a month after being discharged from hospital following treatment for double pneumonia.
In the statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the cause of death was identified as “a stroke, followed by coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse.”
READ MORE: JUST IN: Vatican Mourns As Pope Francis Passes Away At 88
The certification was issued by Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State.
The medical report also detailed the Pope’s history of health challenges, including “acute respiratory failure caused by multimicrobial bilateral pneumonia, multiple bronchiectases, high blood pressure, and Type II diabetes.”
His death was confirmed through electrocardiographic thanatography.
“I hereby declare,” wrote Dr. Arcangeli, “that the causes of death, to the best of my knowledge and judgment, are as stated above.”
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, became the 266th leader of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013 and was widely recognized for his efforts to modernize Church doctrine and promote global social justice.
Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at the age of 88, the Vatican announced on Monday.
His passing came just a day after he made an emotional appearance before thousands of faithful gathered at Saint Peter’s Square for Easter Sunday celebrations.
“It is with deep sorrow that I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell said in an official statement shared via the Vatican’s Telegram channel.
READ ALSO: Pope Francis To Return To Vatican After Month-Long Treatment
“This morning at 7:35 am (0535 GMT) the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and His Church.”
The pontiff’s final public appearance, marked by visible frailty, came as a surprise to many, as he had only recently been discharged from the hospital following a prolonged battle with pneumonia. Francis had endured two life-threatening health scares earlier this year and spent 38 days hospitalized before being released on March 23.
Despite his condition, the pope greeted crowds on Easter Sunday with a heartfelt “Happy Easter” and delivered his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing, using the occasion to call for global peace, freedom of thought, and tolerance.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit to assume the papacy.
His decade-long leadership was marked by a focus on compassion, humility, social justice, and outreach to marginalized communities.
Gabonese citizens lined up at polling stations on Saturday to cast their votes in a landmark presidential election, the first since the military ousted the Bongo dynasty in a coup last August.
Eight candidates are vying for the top job, but all signs point to junta leader General Brice Oligui Nguema — the man behind the August 30, 2023, coup — emerging as the frontrunner.
Oligui, who toppled Ali Bongo and ended 55 years of family rule widely criticized for corruption and economic mismanagement, has dominated opinion polls in the run-up to the vote.
In the capital, Libreville, snaking queues formed outside polling stations as voters turned out early.
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Among them was 30-year-old Aurele Ossantanga Mouila, who cast his ballot for the first time after finishing a night shift at a casino.
“I did not have confidence in the earlier regime,” Mouila told reporters, echoing the sentiments of many young voters hoping for change in the oil-rich central African nation.
Oligui, who served as transitional president while civilians drafted a new constitution, swapped his military uniform for campaign attire as he seeks a seven-year mandate.
He faces seven challengers, including his main rival, former Prime Minister Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, a longtime insider under Ali Bongo who now brands himself as the face of a “complete rupture” from the past.
Despite Oligui’s promises of reform, critics question his commitment to breaking with the old system, noting his deep ties to the Bongo era.
His campaign slogan, “C’BON” — a clever wordplay blending his initials with the French phrase for “It’s good” — has been plastered across Libreville, while rival candidates struggle for visibility.
As roughly 920,000 registered voters cast their ballots, the election is taking place against a backdrop of pressing national issues.
High unemployment, failing infrastructure, regular power outages, and soaring government debt — projected to reach 80 percent of GDP this year — have fueled public frustration.
Analysts, like political observer Neyer Kenga, say the vote represents a critical test for Gabon’s return to civilian rule and constitutional order.
“Today all Gabonese are firmly in favour of a democratic game that is played within the rules,” Kenga noted, adding that the outcome remains uncertain in a nation scarred by post-election violence in 2009 and 2016, as well as last year’s coup.
The interior ministry has pledged a “transparent ballot” and results are expected by Monday. Meanwhile, Oligui remains confident of victory.
“The builder is here, the special candidate, the one you called,” he declared at his final rally, as music and dancing filled the streets of Libreville.
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JUST IN: Vatican Discloses Cause Of Pope Francis’ Death
