The doctor who performed surgery on Pope Francis says the 86-year-old is recovering and "doesn’t have other illnesses."

The Vatican, June 8 (RHC)-- Pope Francis is recovering after undergoing abdominal surgery in Rome amid concerns over the pontiff’s already fragile health.  “The Holy Father is well, this is the news that you and the whole world were waiting for,” Sergio Alfieri, the doctor who performed the operation at the Gemelli Hospital in the Italian capital, told reporters late on Wednesday.

“He has already made his first joke 10 minutes ago,” he said, adding that there were no complications in the surgery.

Francis was admitted to hospital on Wednesday for a three-hour operation.  The Pope is now expected to rest for five to seven days.  The 86-year-old is staying on the 10th floor of the Gemelli, a suite reserved for popes.

Born in Argentina, Francis started his papacy in 2013 after then-pope Benedict XVI shocked the world by resigning.  He is the first pope to hail from the so-called Global South, a term comprising Latin America, Africa and much of Asia, which is today home to most of the world’s Christians.