Sergio Alfieri, who successfully operated on Pope Francis twice, in 2021 and 2023, lied about performing surgeries 29 times, prosecutors claim.

His alleged conduct was uncovered after a complaint from a patient who saw Alfieri’s name in her hospital records but did not believe that he had operated on her, The Times reports.

The doctor is accused of falsifying records to show that he was in the operating theatre when he was, at times, hundreds of miles away.

Alfieri, who sits on the board of the Gemelli Hospital Foundation and the Vatican Health Commission, denies any wrongdoing.