Vatican City – Pope Francis has undergone a three-hour scheduled surgery for diverticular stenosis in his colon at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome. The 84-year-old pontiff emerged from surgery “alert and breathing on his own,” according to spokesperson Matteo Bruni. “The operation, performed under general anesthesia, involved a left hemicolectomy and was commonly executed following a diverticular stenosis diagnosis. The Vatican released a statement saying the surgery was conducted with minimally invasive techniques.”

The pope was admitted to the hospital earlier this month after suffering from a “symptomatic stenotic diverticulitis” and was scheduled to undergo the procedure last week. However, the surgery was postponed due to Francis contracting a mild fever, which was resolved before the surgical procedure started.

Concerns over the pope’s health have mounting for several years, and the Vatican has been closely monitoring his health since he became pope in 2013. Prior to the surgery, the pope appeared at his office window on Sunday and told the audience that he would “offer a thought” for those who were sick, without revealing any information about his own health condition.

Pope Francis is expected to remain at the hospital for a week to ten days, according to Vatican officials. The pontiff has been a vocal advocate of the COVID-19 vaccine and received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine back in January 2021.