“No clinical reasons why it should not take place,” said Dr. Stefano Margaritora, who called Pope Leo “an ideal patient.”
On average each day, over the last 100 years in mission territories, the Church has seen more than 9,000 people becoming Catholic, two priestly ordinations, and five women taking vows as religious.
The 71-year-old pope had been admitted last Tuesday and underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of his right lung.
The Catholic Church has 407,421 priests, 425 more than the previous year. Africa and Asia are driving this growth, while Europe recorded another decline.
