2 weeks post-surgery, Pope Francis appears at Vatican window

VATICAN CITY

: Two weeks after surgery that removed a portion of his colon, Pope

Francis

has resumed his traditional Sunday appearance from a Vatican window to greet the faithful.


Exactly a week earlier, Francis had delivered the blessing from a hospital balcony. The pontiff underwent bowel surgery on July 4 to remove a portion of his colon after intestinal narrowing.

The public waved national

flags

and cheered in anticipation of the pope's appearance this Sunday.

"Dear brothers and sisters, good day!" Francis said and smiled at the crowd below in St Peter's Square.

After 10 days in the major Catholic hospital in

Rome

, Francis returned to his home in Vatican City on July 14.

Except for the Sunday noon appointment to offer his blessing to faithful gathered in St Peter's Square, the pontiff has no other public appearances scheduled for the rest of July. Even before his surgery was announced, the Vatican had said that his weekly general audiences on Wednesdays wouldn't take place during July, in keeping with past years of his papacy, which allow him a bit of a summer break.