The Pope was under general anaesthetic overnight for a three-hour abdomen operation, which the Vatican said was a success. The surgery was intended to fix a hernia causing “recurrent, painful and worsening symptoms”. Yikes. It’s not the first time the Pope has been laid low this year after a fever took him out for several days in late May, and bronchitis saw him in hospital in March. On leaving the hospital after his March bronchitis stint, Francis joked that he was “still alive”… and as for this latest abdomen operation, we’re told by his surgeon that the Pope has already cracked at least one joke since waking. Good to hear that he’s still got it. Pope Francis’s audiences have been cancelled until at least 18 June “as a precautionary measure”.