Vatican says Pope Leo to be released from the hospital after lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV is set to return to the Vatican following lung cancer surgery, the Vatican announced. At the age of 71, Leo underwent surgery at Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung. Doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora assessed Leo's health based on blood tests, chest X-rays, and his overall clinical condition, determining him fit for discharge.

The Holy Father is expected to leave the hospital early Saturday and return to the Vatican. On Sunday, Pope Leo will recite the Angelus prayer from the window of his papal apartment, a tradition typically observed by popes. Previously, Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis conducted the prayer from hospital windows during their own hospital stays.

On Saturday, Pope Leo celebrated mass in a 10th-floor hospital room. Outside the hospital, Ukrainian Varvara Struck expressed her hope that the Pope would recover swiftly. In recent days, Leo has resumed some work, including a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, urging a ceasefire in Oleshky, a city in Ukrainian-occupied territory.

The planned papal trip to South America, scheduled for November 6-17, to visit Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, remains uncertain. Vatican officials note that Leo, who spent two decades in Peru as a missionary, is eager to undertake the journey but will likely adhere to his doctors' recommendations. Since the diagnosis, Pope Leo has canceled all audiences until October 20, informing the public through a mass statement in St. Peter's Square after the Angelus prayer.