Pope Leo Returns to Vatican Four Days After Lung Cancer Surgery
ROME: Pope Leo returns to Vatican City on Saturday after doctors discharged him from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, four days after surgeons removed a cancerous tumour from his right lung.
The 71-year-old pontiff walked unaided out of the hospital lobby in the afternoon, smiling and waving to well-wishers who greeted him with cheers and applause. He shook hands with the doctors who treated him and paused to speak with 13-year-old Varvara, a Ukrainian girl who has been in Italy for cancer treatment. His surgeon, Professor Stefano Margaritora, accompanied him to the hospital door before the pope’s black SUV drove through a side entrance into the Vatican.
Earlier on Saturday, his doctors declared the pope “fit for discharge” after reviewing blood tests and a chest X-ray taken that morning.
“Considering the blood tests, the chest X-ray done this morning, and evaluating the clinical picture, the Holy Father has been deemed fit for discharge,” the pope’s personal physician, Dr Luigi Carbone, and Professor Margaritora wrote in a note published by the Vatican.
A swift return after Tuesday’s operation
Leo had been at the Gemelli Hospital, north of the Vatican, since Tuesday, when he underwent surgery lasting about 90 minutes to remove the lower lobe of his right lung. Surgeons used a video-assisted technique, and tissue examined during the operation confirmed a diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.
The pope himself announced the diagnosis to the public last Sunday, after the weekly Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square, saying a routine medical examination had found a nodule that doctors recommended removing. The unusually candid disclosure stunned the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and raised questions about the future of his papacy, which began with his election on May 8 last year.
Since the operation, his doctors have described the recovery as normal. He resumed work from his hospital room, meeting senior aides and, on Friday, telephoning Russian President Vladimir Putin to press for a ceasefire protecting civilians in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky. Before leaving the hospital on Saturday, he celebrated Mass at noon in a room on the 10th floor set aside for worship, as he had done on previous days.
Pope Leo returns to Vatican: what happens next
The Vatican said the pope will lead the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square. It will be his first public engagement since the surgery. The noon blessing is a fixture of papal life, delivered weekly to pilgrims gathered below.
All of his audiences have been cancelled until October 20 to allow him to rest. A larger question hangs over a planned papal voyage to South America from November 6 to 17, covering Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where Leo spent two decades as a missionary and bishop. The Vatican is treating those plans with caution.
“We need to see how the Pope feels once he is discharged — what his state of health is — and based on that, he will decide whether to keep or cancel his trips,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, told reporters on Friday.
Why this matters
Saturday’s discharge closes the hospital chapter of a health saga this desk has followed from the start: the announcement of the operation, the removal of the cancerous tumour, doctors’ reports of normal progress, and his hospital-room call with President Putin. What opens now is a closely watched recovery period for the first American pope, whose energetic, hands-on style made news of his illness all the more startling.
The Vatican has also engaged Pakistan directly in recent weeks: Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s foreign minister, visited Islamabad earlier this month for meetings with Pakistani leaders.
What surgery did Pope Leo undergo?
Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung on Tuesday, October 13, using a video-assisted technique. Tissue analysis during the operation confirmed pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. The procedure lasted about 90 minutes.
When will the pope next appear in public?
He is scheduled to lead the Sunday Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter’s Square. All other audiences remain cancelled until October 20.
Will his November trip to South America go ahead?
That remains undecided. The Vatican says the November 6 to 17 voyage to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru depends on how the pope’s recovery progresses, and Cardinal Parolin said the decision will follow medical advice.
