Pope Leo walks out of hospital
The procedure confirmed adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.
Medical bulletins said he had been able to carry on “normal daily activities completely on his own. Doctors reported his “continued improvement”. Dozens of well-wishers gathered to see him off, greeting him with cries of ‘Holiness’. Since the operation, the pontiff has shown signs of recovery, holding a telephone conversation with Russian president Vladimir Putin, meeting senior aides and celebrating Mass in a makeshift hospital chapel.
Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican on Saturday, four days after undergoing lung cancer surgery at Rome’s Gemelli hospital. Leo underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. On Friday, the Vatican released the first images of Leo since the surgery, showing him in green vestments standing at an altar in the hospital chapel.
Leo reached the Vatican gates around 10 minutes after leaving the hospital. Earlier reporting noted: The 71-year-old pontiff will deliver the traditional noon blessing from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square on Sunday, his first public engagement since being admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Leo had greeted patients inside the hospital before walking unaided to his waiting vehicle. He also briefly stopped when a teenage girl presented him with a homemade papal doll. Pope’s surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, head of thoracic surgery at Gemelli, accompanied him to the hospital entrance as he was formally discharged.
Earlier reporting noted: Pope Leo XIV to be discharged from hospital after successful lung cancer surgery on Saturday Pope Leo is in recovery and will soon be discharged Earlier reporting noted: Pope Leo XIV is set to leave hospital on Saturday afternoon, four days after undergoing surgery for lung cancer, with doctors declaring him fit for discharge following blood tests, a chest X-ray and an assessment of his condition, the Vatican said.
Doctors are awaiting further test results to determine the cancer’s precise characteristics, whether it has spread beyond the removed lung lobe and whether additional treatment will be required.