Pope Francis Delivers First Sunday Address After Surgery

VATICAN CITY (Sputnik) - Pope Francis delivered his first traditional Sunday address to the faithful from the window of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican following a recent abdominal surgery.

The audience on Saint Peter's Square greeted the pontiff with cheers and applause. Before the sermon, Pope Francis thanked those who supported and prayed for him during the stay at hospital. He added that this "human closeness and spiritual closeness" were of great help and comfort. However, the voice of the 86-year-old pontiff betrayed signs of tiredness and some weakness.

"With great sorrow and heartache I think of the victims of the serious shipwreck that occurred in recent days off the coast of Greece. And it seemed as though the sea were calm. I reiterate my prayer for those who have lost their lives, and I implore that everything possible always be done to prevent similar tragedies," the pontiff said after the traditional reading of the Angelus prayer.

Pope Francis also lamented the recent attack on a school in Uganda.

On Wednesday night, the fishing boat carrying migrants capsized in international waters 47 nautical miles southwest of the Greek town of Pylos. The boat was heading from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya to Italy. A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched under the coordination of the Joint Rescue Coordination Center. Greek media reported later in the day that at least 78 people had died in the migrant shipwreck, with over 100 rescued. The International Organization for Migration said the boat was carrying at least 400 migrants, while the survivors estimated that 700 migrants had been on board.

On Saturday, a terrorist attack on Lhubirira secondary school in the Ugandan city of Mpondwe claimed the lives of 41 people, including 17 pupils who died in the bomb blast, according to media reports.

On June 7, the Vatican press office said that Pope Francis had undergone a laparotomy — an incision in the abdomen — and plastic surgery of the abdominal wall with prostheses, and that the three-hour operation had been completed without complications. The Holy See said that all audiences with Francis had been canceled until June 18. On Friday morning he returned to the Vatican from the Gemelli Hospital in Rome. In response to reporters’ questions about his health, he joked that he was "still alive."