Pope convalescing in hospital after intestinal surgery

Pope Francis has spent a first night after intestinal surgery in a Rome hospital, where he was reported by an Italia cardinal to be doing well

ROME -- Pope Francis was spending his first morning convalescing on Monday in a Rome hospital following intestinal surgery under general anesthesia and reportedly doing well. The Vatican has given scant details about the operation Sunday evening in Gemelli Polyclinic, a major Catholic hospital in the Italian capital. An Italian cardinal told reporters he had been informed that the pope was doing well. “Our prayer and our closeness are very great,” Cardinal Enrico Feroci said at Rome's airport where he was catching a flight. The Italian news agency ANSA quoted him as saying that he had heard earlier in the morning from another cardinal, Angelo De Donatis, “and he told me that the pope is well.” De Donatis is the vicar of the Rome diocese.