Pope Leo Leaves Hospital After Lung Surgery; Sunday Angelus Planned
The Vatican says Leo XIV will lead prayers on October 18 after returning from Gemelli. Further test results remain unannounced, and his November travel plans carry separate uncertainties.
Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican on Saturday, October 17, four days after surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his right lung. The Vatican said he will lead the Angelus prayer at noon on Sunday from the Apostolic Palace. His departure from Rome's Gemelli Hospital brings forward his return from inpatient care, while results of further tests described in reporting on his condition have not yet been announced. (BBC News; CBS News; vaticannews.va)
The 71-year-old walked without assistance to his waiting car and stopped to greet people outside the hospital, according to BBC reporting from Rome and Al Jazeera's account of his departure. CBS News reported that he left through the main entrance, shook hands with people in the crowd and returned to Vatican City by motorcade at 3:43 p.m. local time. (FRANCE 24)
The medical decision to discharge him
Doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora judged Leo fit to leave after reviewing blood tests, a chest X-ray taken on Saturday morning and his clinical condition, Vatican News reported. It was not accompanied by a new prognosis: CBS reported that no information about his prognosis had been publicly shared. (CBS News; vaticannews.va)
The operation took place on Tuesday, October 13. In its account the following morning, Vatican News carried the doctors' description of removal of the lower lobe of his right lung using a video-assisted technique. Their statement said an examination of tissue during the operation confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, the diagnosis suspected from earlier examinations. (vaticannews.va; vaticannews.va)
The Vatican's initial account distinguished time in the operating room from the length of the operation: Leo was in the room for approximately three hours, while the surgery itself took about 90 minutes. Doctors reported a successful procedure without complications. Vatican News said he awoke normally and returned to his room after a short observation period. Its Wednesday report also described further examinations of the removed tissue as work still to be carried out. (BBC News; vaticannews.va)
A public appearance before audiences resume
The discharge is earlier than the timetable previously reported. CBS said Leo had initially been expected to remain in hospital until October 20; the earlier Vatican account had referred to a week in hospital. His audiences, meanwhile, have been cancelled until October 20, according to France 24. Leaving the hospital and appearing for Sunday's prayer therefore should not be read as confirmation that every ordinary appointment has already resumed. (CBS News)
Religious activity continued inside Gemelli. Vatican News said Leo celebrated Mass before returning to the Vatican, in a room on the hospital's 10th floor set aside for that purpose. The press office said he thanked Margaritora and the medical and nursing team before leaving. (vaticannews.va)
The November journey remains a separate decision
A longer-term question concerns the proposed South America visit. France 24 reported a November 6–17 itinerary covering Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, and noted that Leo spent two decades as a missionary in Peru. The BBC said people close to him reported that he was keen not to delay the journey, while saying it was not yet clear whether he would be fit to travel or need further treatment. (BBC News)
CBS reported a more encouraging view from Margaritora: in an interview with Vatican News, the surgeon said there was no clinical reason for Leo to skip the trip. CBS also noted that the Vatican published the names of journalists accredited to fly to the three countries on Friday. That indicates continuing preparations. It is a different kind of evidence from the medical tests still outstanding, and does not guarantee that the itinerary cannot change. (CBS News)
How the diagnosis emerged
Leo first made the nodule public after the Angelus in St Peter's Square on Sunday, October 11. France 24 reported his announcement that a routine medical examination had revealed the growth and that doctors recommended its removal. That announcement preceded both Tuesday's operation and the subsequent confirmation of the cancer diagnosis, which the Vatican described in its Wednesday medical update. (vaticannews.va; vaticannews.va)
Margaritora described discovery of the lung tumour as accidental in the Vatican News interview reported by CBS. He said Leo had no symptoms and that the tumour was found during examinations undertaken for other reasons. He distinguished those examinations from preventive screening. His account describes how the growth came to medical attention, before the operation and the tissue examination that established the diagnosis. (CBS News; vaticannews.va)