ROME — Pope Leo XIV waved to a crowd as he left a Rome hospital and returned to the Vatican on Saturday afternoon, four days after he underwent lung cancer surgery, Vatican officials said.
Leo’s departure, after a surgery described as successful by his doctors — in which a malignant nodule and part of his right lung were removed — comes after postoperative blood tests and chest X-rays performed early Saturday indicated he was fit for discharge, officials added. In what was the first public glimpse of the pope since his admission, he walked assuredly, wore a smile and exchanged a few words with well-wishers as he exited the hospital in front of a cheering crowd.
Leo’s cancer diagnosis, made public on Tuesday following his surgery, stunned many in Vatican City and around the Catholic world. Officials in the Holy See have ruminated that Leo’s health might slow down his intense schedule but have also sought to project a level of normalcy.
Vatican officials said Leo will deliver his regular Angelus prayer from a balcony on St. Peter’s Square on Sunday. Previously, the Vatican had said that Leo’s recovery was expected to take a week and that his schedule had been cleared of audiences until Tuesday.
On Friday, Leo was photographed saying Mass at the hospital. The Vatican also said that the 71-year-old pontiff had returned to business, speaking by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a humanitarian crisis in Russian-occupied Ukraine.
During his exit, Leo was greeted by a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl, a cancer survivor who had met the pope in December.
She exchanged words with him through a priest acting as an interpreter, telling Leo that her earlier encounter with him had given her “the strength to overcome the disease that today I have fortunately won. … You too will overcome this moment and continue your Gospel.”
She requested a blessing from Leo and received one, according to the Vatican’s official news outlet, Vatican News.
Vatican officials have not yet provided information on tests performed on the material removed from Leo’s lung that could help assess the stage of the cancer and best courses of treatment going forward.
Before his health crisis, Leo was preparing for the most important trip of his papacy to date: a 12-day tour of Latin America, including a homecoming to Peru, where he is a naturalized citizen. Vatican officials and host countries have continued with the planning for the trip, set to begin Nov. 6, though several top clerics have suggested a delay is possible.
Some Vatican officials have been candid about their concern. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state and Leo’s No. 2, said this week that Leo “will adjust his pontificate, if it needs to be adjusted.” After those comments were read into by many observers, Parolin later clarified that he was referring only to Leo’s upcoming Latin America tour.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich — one of the closest figures to Leo in the U.S. church — described himself as “shocked” by the diagnosis, but described the pope as “calm.”
He also highlighted what was at stake. “He has really stepped on the global stage very quickly to make an impact on calling for world peace, looking for ways in which the marginalized are cared for, and being able to highlight what are the values that bring society together and call the best out of everyone. So we don’t want to lose that voice,” Cupich told ABC7 Chicago.
Leo himself announced the discovery of the nodule Sunday, but the Vatican withheld critical information that it finally shared Tuesday — that earlier tests had indicated cancer. The Vatican has been facing questions about when Leo became aware of the diagnosis, which officials have said was detected during a “routine check.”
Leo has a family history of cancer. His mother died of the disease and his older, Florida-based brother is also battling cancer.
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