Pope Francis resumes public audiences a month after major surgery

Rome — A month after being hospitalized for colon surgery, Pope Francis resumed his weekly public audiences Wednesday, using the event to mark the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion and to reiterate his intention to visit Lebanon. A smiling Francis walked without assistance before a crowd of several hundred tourists and pilgrims in a Vatican auditorium, where he recalled the "victims, their families, the injured and all those who lost homes and work" in the Beirut blast.

"My desire to visit you is great," Francis said. The pope underwent planned surgery on July 4 to remove half of his colon following a severe narrowing of his large intestine. It was his first major surgery since he became pope in 2013. It was scheduled for early July when the pope's audiences are suspended anyway and Francis would normally take some time off.