Pope Leo XIV was set to be discharged from a Rome hospital on Saturday, the Vatican announced, four days after surgery to remove a tumor from his right lung.
The pope was expected to leave Gemelli Hospital in the afternoon, roughly three days earlier than the Vatican had originally suggested for when he would return to his residence.
Vatican officials said he would deliver his weekly prayer and blessing on Sunday from his apartment overlooking St. Peter’s Square, although all of his private audiences are suspended until Tuesday.
The pope caught the world off guard when he announced last Sunday that doctors had found a small growth in his lung and had decided to operate. Two days later, surgeons removed a lower lobe of his right lung and confirmed that the pope had lung cancer, as preoperative tests had shown. Information later released by the Vatican suggested the cancer was caught at an early stage.
Leo’s illness has shaken his papacy, casting uncertainty over his immediate travel itinerary and long-term plans for the church, which he has so far carried out at a slow pace. The Vatican website on Saturday still said that he planned to travel next month to South America, but some officials have suggested the trip depends on the speed of his recovery.
When Leo, the first pope born in the United States, was elected at 69, less than 18 months ago, he seemed to have years ahead of him to shape the Roman Catholic Church. With the cancer diagnosis, Leo suddenly faces the same questions of longevity that hung over his predecessor, Francis, who grew gradually more frail during his 12-year papacy.
Leo was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of lung cancer. Survival rates for it vary greatly depending on the stage of the cancer and a patient’s overall health. Leo is known to play tennis regularly and had no other reported medical problems.
Doctors have not released the results of additional tests to determine what additional treatments, if any, are warranted.
Lung cancer is still a leading cause of cancer death, but that rate is half of what it was in the 1990s, partly because newly developed treatments are working.
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