Pope Francis was discharged from a hospital in Rome and returned home to the Vatican yesterday, 10 days after undergoing surgery to remove half his colon.

The Pope (84) gave thanks for the success of the operation and offered prayers for others during a visit en route home to Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, the Vatican said.

The Pope always visits the basilica after returning from a foreign trip to pray before a beloved icon of the Virgin Mary.

He sat in the passenger seat of a Ford car, which left Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic around 10.45am.

The small motorcade app- roached a side entrance to the Vatican about an hour later, after the detour to the basilica. The Ford stopped before reaching the gate and Pope Francis got out with the help of a bodyguard.

He greeted some security guards – two army soldiers standing guard and a handful of police motorcycle escorts – and got back into the car, which then entered the Vatican through the Perugino gate.

The Pope had half his colon removed for a severe narrowing of his large intestine on July 4, his first major surgery since he became pope in 2013.

It was a planned procedure, scheduled for early July when the Pope’s audiences are suspended anyway and he would normally take time off.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed Pope Francis’ return from the hospital and visit to the Rome basilica.

Praying before the icon, the Pope “expressed his gratitude for the success of his surgery and offered a prayer for all the sick, especially those he had met during his stay in hospital”, Mr Bruni said.

Pope Francis will have several more weeks to recover before beginning to travel again in September.

There are plans for him to visit Hungary and Slovak-
ia in September, and then make a quick stop in Glas-
gow in November to participate in the COP26 climate conference.

Other possible trips are also under review.

The Vatican had originally said Pope Francis could be discharged last weekend, but later said he would stay a few days extra for further recov-
ery and rehabilitation therapy.

On Sunday, the Pope app- eared for the first time in public since the surgery.

Looking in good form, he delivered his weekly prayer from the 10th-floor hospital balcony, surrounded by young cancer patients.

He used the occasion to call for free health care for all.

On the eve of his release, he visited the paediatric cancer ward, located on the same floor as the papal suite.

The Pope had part of one lung removed when he was a young man.