Pope Francis is doing well after undergoing scheduled surgery on his large intestine, the Vatican said on Sunday.

Spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement that the 84-year-old pontiff “responded well” to the surgery, which was done under general aesthesia.

He gave no further details about the procedure and did not say how long the pope would remain in hospital.

The Vatican had earlier announced the pope would undergo surgery at the Gemelli Polyclinic, a Catholic teaching hospital in Rome.

The news came just three hours after Francis had cheerfully greeted the public in Saint Peter’s Square and told them he will go to Hungary and Slovakia in September.

It was the pope’s first known hospital treatment since he was elected to the papacy in 2013.

The Vatican said the pope had been diagnosed with “symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon”, a reference to a narrowing in the large intestine.

The surgery was to be performed by Dr Sergio Alfieri, the director of Gemelli’s digestive surgery department.