{
  "id": 15185467,
  "title": "Pope to return to Vatican after cancer surgery",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/pope-to-return-to-vatican-after-cancer-surgery",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-17T11:13:19.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn",
    "slug": "dawn",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2037823/pope-to-return-to-vatican-after-cancer-surgery"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Pope Leo XIV is set to return to the Vatican after being discharged from a Rome hospital where he underwent surgery for lung cancer. The 71-year-old pontiff has been recovering at the Gemelli hospital since Tuesday, following the removal of a tumour from his right lung. Doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora confirmed in a note published by the Vatican that Leo was deemed fit for discharge based on blood tests, a chest X-ray, and an evaluation of his clinical condition. The Vatican noted that Pope Leo XIV will leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican, where he will recite the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment on a subsequent day. The Angelus prayer, typically delivered by the pope from the window of the Apostolic Palace, has been recited in hospital rooms by previous hospitalized popes John Paul II and Francis. Leo has resumed some work, including a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging a ceasefire in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky. However, a planned papal voyage to South America in November remains uncertain as his doctors await test results to determine the next steps in his recovery. Leo has canceled all audiences until October 20, with the announcement of his cancer diagnosis being made public in St. Peter’s Square following the Angelus prayer on Sunday.",
  "summary": "Pope Leo XIV will leave the Rome hospital where he has been recovering from lung cancer surgery , the Vatican said on Saturday, after doctors deemed him “fit for discharge”. Leo, 71, has been at the Gemelli hospital north of the Vatican since Tuesday, where doctors removed part of his right lung to extract a cancerous tumour. “Considering the blood tests, the chest X-ray done this morning, and…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 4,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Daily Post Nigeria",
        "title": "Pope Leo XIV set for first public appearance after cancer surgery",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/pope-leo-xiv-set-for-first-public-appearance-after-cancer-surgery",
        "published": "2026-10-17T06:33:43.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Times of Israel",
        "title": "Vatican says Pope Leo to be released from the hospital after lung cancer surgery",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/vatican-says-pope-leo-to-be-released-from-the-hospital-after-lung",
        "published": "2026-10-17T11:18:32.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Pope to return to Vatican after cancer surgery",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/pope-to-return-to-vatican-after-cancer-surgery-15199322",
        "published": "2026-10-17T12:46:25.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}