Vatican says pope able to leave hospital following cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV has been discharged from Gemelli Hospital in Rome following successful lung cancer surgery, according to the Vatican. The head of the Catholic Church will return to the Vatican on Saturday and lead the Angelus prayer on Sunday. Doctors revealed that Leo underwent an operation on Tuesday to remove a malignant tumor from the lower lobe of his right lung.

On Friday, he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone, urging a ceasefire in the town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine. Three days after the surgery, the Vatican released the first images of the pontiff celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel. Pope Leo expressed gratitude to the hospital staff for their efforts. He is currently undergoing physiotherapy to improve his breathing.

The Vatican stated that he is able to carry out his daily activities independently. The removed tumor was a lung adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. Dr. Jürgen Behr from the Department of Clinical Pneumology at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University noted that follow-up care may only involve regular check-ups. Pulmonologist Dr. Torsten Bauer from Berlin's Helios Hospital suggested that if the Pope's lung function had been normal prior to the operation, the removal of the lung lobe would not affect his breathing. Further treatment details will become clearer upon the availability of additional test results.