“The Holy Father is continuing his planned treatment and rehabilitation, which will allow him to return to the Vatican as soon as possible.”

The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, stated this in the update he communicated in today’s July 13 statement, which can be read in its entirety at the end of the article.

Yesterday, the Director said that to optimize the Pope’s rehab following his colon surgery, Francis will stay a few more days in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital.

In today’s update, expressing the continued progress of the Pope, Bruni stated: “Among the many patients he has met during these days, he addressed a special thought to those who are bedridden and cannot return home.”

Pope Francis prays, “May they live this time as an opportunity, even if experienced in pain, to open themselves with tenderness to their sick brother or sister in the next bed, with whom they share the same human frailty.”

In these days, Pope Francis also expressed his closeness to children with cancer or going in for brain surgery, as well as to all who suffer. He invited a few sick children to join him on the balcony for his Sunday Angelus from the 10th floor of the hospital Sunday at noon.

Last Wednesday afternoon, in a message, the Pope “expressed his paternal closeness to the young patients in the nearby pediatric oncology and children’s neurosurgery wards, sending them his affectionate greetings.”

Statements have confirmed that the Pope is continuing with satisfactory progress and acknowledged that the final histological examination “confirmed a severe diverticular stenosis with signs of sclerosing diverticulitis.”

Here is the Vatican-provided English statement given by Matteo Bruni in today’s noon bulletin, providing the most recent update on the Pope:

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Statement by the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni (July 13)

The Holy Father is continuing his planned treatment and rehabilitation, which will allow him to return to the Vatican as soon as possible.

Among the many patients he has met during these days, he addressed a special thought to those who are bedridden and cannot return home: may they live this time as an opportunity, even if experienced in pain, to open themselves with tenderness to their sick brother or sister in the next bed, with whom they share the same human frailty.

[Working translation by Vatican]