Vatican: Pope Francis goes to hospital for scheduled tests

ROME, Italy — Pope Francis went to a Rome hospital on Wednesday for some previously scheduled tests, slipping out of the Vatican after his general audience and before the busy start of Holy Week this Sunday.

The Vatican provided no details, including how long the 86-year-old pope would remain at the Gemelli hospital where he had intestinal surgery in 2021. But a statement from spokesman Matteo Bruni suggested Francis could remain at least overnight, since he only arrived in the afternoon.

“The Holy Father has been at Gemelli since this afternoon for some previously scheduled checkups,” read the one-line statement.

Francis is due to celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend, which begins a busy series of ceremonies at the Vatican the following week: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday on April 9.

The pope spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021 following surgery for an intestinal narrowing. He had 13 inches of his colon removed.

He said soon after that he had recovered fully and could eat normally. But in a Jan. 24 interview with The Associated Press, Francis said the diverticulosis, or bulges in his intestinal wall, had “returned.”

Francis has also been using a wheelchair for over a year for strained ligaments in his right knee, and then a small fracture in his knee. He has said the injury is healing, and he has been walking more with a cane of late.

He has said he resisted having surgery for the knee problems because he didn't respond well to the general anesthesia during the 2021 intestinal surgery.