The Vatican says Pope Leo XIV will be released from hospital Saturday, four days after surgery for lung cancer, and will give the traditional Sunday noon blessing from a window above St. Peter’s Square.
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Pope Leo XIV will be released from hospital on Saturday, the Vatican announced, four days after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
The Vatican said the 71-year-old Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule, and that the surgery confirmed adenocarcinoma, described as the most common type of lung cancer.
The pope’s personal physician and surgeon said in a separate statement that Leo was “deemed fit for discharge from the hospital” based on blood test results and a chest X-ray performed Saturday morning, along with an assessment of his clinical condition. The Vatican said he is set to leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican.
The Vatican said Leo will deliver the traditional noon blessing on Sunday from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Leo announced to the faithful last Sunday gathered in St. Peter’s Square that doctors had identified a nodule on his lung and that it would be removed. After the surgery on Tuesday confirmed the cancer diagnosis, the Vatican said he held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, met with top aides and celebrated Mass in a hospital chapel.
The Vatican also released the first images of Leo since his lung cancer surgery on Friday, showing him standing up at an altar in a hospital chapel in green vestments. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said doctors reported tests confirmed his “continued improvement,” and that Leo presided alone over the liturgy, distributing Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes present.
Bruni said Leo delivered a homily thanking hospital staff “for the work they do every day taking care of the sick in their fragility,” adding “and in a particular way what they had done for him.”
The Vatican had originally estimated a weeklong hospital stay and cancelled audiences through Tuesday. Bruni said the discharge date was up to the pope’s doctors.
The Vatican said Leo’s next major agenda item is a trip to Latin America from Nov. 6 to 17, with the pope having about three weeks of recovery before the journey. The Vatican has published the names of journalists accredited to travel on Leo’s plane, and oncology surgeons say patients are generally cleared to fly after three weeks if recovery allows.
Doctors are still awaiting results of tests to understand the cancer’s molecular and genetic makeup, whether it has spread beyond the lobe and whether any further treatment is necessary.
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