Vatican releases first photos of Pope Francis recovery ahead of Friday discharge

ROME and LONDON -- The Vatican press office released photos on Thursday of Pope Francis recovering after undergoing intestinal surgery.

Francis was checked into Gemelli hospital in Rome Wednesday, June 7, for a three-hour intestinal operation.

The 86-year-old pontiff will be discharged on Friday morning, Matteo Bruni, director of the press office for The Holy See, said Thursday.

Photos taken and released on Thursday show the pontiff’s visit to “to the Pediatric Oncology and Children's Neurosurgery Department on the 10th floor of Gemelli, adjacent to the apartment where he is convalescing,” the Vatican said.

The pope went to Gemelli hospital in Rome to undergo "a Laparotomy and abdominal wall plastic surgery with prosthesis under general anaesthesia," Bruni said in a statement the day of the surgery.

The Vatican has said in the days since that the surgery went well and the pope has been recovering.

"Pope Francis continued his convalescence this afternoon, working with rest and recovery intervals," the Vatican had said on Wednesday.