Pope Leo discharged from hospital on Saturday, four days after surgery on his right lung
Pope Leo XIV was released from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday, four days after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung.
The pope exited via the hospital's main entrance. A large crowd waiting outside the hospital cheered for him.
He shook hands with several people, then stopped to talk with a young woman who appeared to be wearing a bandage on her right arm and was holding a doll in the image of Pope Leo.
The Pope was smiling. Once in the car, he waved to the crowd. His motorcade returned to Vatican City at 3:43 p.m. local time.
The 71-year-old pope had a portion of his right lung removed and received a diagnosis of lung cancer earlier this week. No information about his prognosis has been publicly shared.
Leo was initially expected to remain hospitalized until Oct. 20 but on Thursday he resumed some work activity, and doctors said Friday that tests confirmed "steady improvement in his recovery." On Saturday morning, the Vatican announced he would leave later in the afternoon.
His 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 also confirmed that Leo will recite the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment on Sunday.
The pontiff's surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, said in an interview with Vatican News that there is no clinical reason the Pope should skip an upcoming trip to South America. The visit, planned for early November, has been in question since Leo's hospitalization. On Friday, the Vatican published the names of journalists accredited to fly on the papal plane to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, signalling that the trip appeared to be going ahead.
Leo also conducted some work from the hospital. The Vatican released pictures of the American-born pope standing at an altar in green vestments, celebrating Mass at a small chapel in Gemelli Hospital on Friday.
The Vatican also said Leo spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone on Friday, during which he "expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky" in Ukraine.
The pope also held separate meetings with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the vicar general of the Diocese of Rome.
In the interview with Vatican News, Margaritora said the discovery of the pope's lung tumor was "entirely accidental," and that he had no symptoms. The tumor was found at the base of the lung, Margaritora said, but if it had been "a little higher up, it certainly would not have been seen."
"The Holy Father falls into the category of people who discover they have lung cancer entirely by chance – not because they are undergoing preventive screening, but because they undergo examinations for other reasons," Margaritora said.
