Pope Francis to Skip Sunday Blessing as He Recovers from Surgery

Pope Francis will not deliver his weekly Sunday blessing from a hospital balcony after undergoing a three-hour operation to repair an abdominal hernia in Rome's Gemelli hospital on Wednesday. Surgeons have asked him to avoid strain on his abdomen and instead say the traditional noon Angelus prayer from his hospital suite. The Pope is recovering well and is expected to stay in the hospital for all of next week. He has faced a host of health issues in recent years but has dismissed the possibility of leaving office.