Pope Francis will undergo abdominal surgery under general anesthesia on Wednesday afternoon, the Vatican has confirmed.

The operation was planned by the Pope’s medical team in recent days after it became necessary due to a hernia that was causing recurrent, painful, and worsening symptoms, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

Bruni said that Pope Francis will have a laparotomy and abdominal wall reconstruction with prosthetic material in the early afternoon on June 7.

[The surgery is either under way or completed by now. I’ll be praying for his recovery. At 86, this has some serious risks, especially the general anesthesia. — Ed

UPDATE: From Francis X. Rocca, one of the best Vaticanistas, the surgery was a success.]

Pope Francis underwent intestinal surgery at a Rome hospital on Wednesday for treatment of a hernia, the Vatican said.

The surgery, which the Vatican described as “a laparotomy and plastic surgery of the abdominal wall,” lasted three hours and was completed “without complications,” the Vatican said.