Pope Francis admitted to hospital for planned intestinal surgery

It is the pope’s first known hospital treatment since he was elected to the papacy in 2013.

Pope Francis has been admitted to hospital in Rome for scheduled surgery on his large intestine, the Vatican has announced. The news came on Sunday just three hours after Francis had cheerfully greeted the public in Saint Peter’s Square and told them he will go to Hungary and Slovakia in September. The brief statement from the Holy See’s press office did not say exactly when the surgery would be performed at the Gemelli Polyclinic, a Catholic teaching hospital, only that there would be a medical update when the surgery is complete.