Pope Leo XIV will be discharged from hospital on Saturday after surgery to remove a nodule for lung cancer on his right side and will appear to lead prayers on Sunday, the Vatican said.
“Based on the conclusions reached by the medical team this morning, Pope Leo XIV will be discharged today from the General Hospital of Gemelli, where he underwent surgery on his right lung,” the Vatican News Agency said in a statement on Saturday.
“He will leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican,” the statement added.
He is expected to recite the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the statement said.
Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal physician, and Dr. Stefano Margaritora, chief of thoracic surgery at Gemelli Hospital, said that based on blood tests and a chest X-ray performed Saturday morning, as well as an assessment of his clinical condition, “the pope was deemed fit for discharge.”
So far, Leo’s doctors have given no indication that the pope may need any further treatment. The Vatican has not said whether the cancer may have spread.
Leo, a native of Chicago, returned to work at the hospital Thursday, according to his doctors and the Vatican.
The Vatican released the first photo of Leo after his surgery on Friday, showing him celebrating Mass in hospital, and doctors said tests confirmed “continued improvement” in his recovery.
The photo shows Leo standing in front of the altar wearing a green vestment and celebrating Mass in a temporary church built for him. Spokesman Matteo Bruni said he presided over the liturgy alone, distributed Holy Communion to medical staff and Vatican carabinieri present and delivered the homily.
Less than a month after he was discharged from the hospital, Leo was scheduled to embark on a two-week trip to South America on November 11.
Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori said in an interview with Peruvian television that the speed of the pope’s recovery may determine whether Leo makes a week-long apostolic visit to Peru.
“I want the pope to know that millions of us in Peru are praying for his speedy recovery,” Fujimori said Wednesday.
After doctors examined a nodule removed from Leo’s right lung, Leo was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer.
According to the American Lung Association, non-small cell lung cancer accounts for 80% of all lung cancer cases.
This type of cancer affects both smokers and non-smokers, although Leo was not known to have ever smoked.
The Vatican said the initial mass was discovered during a routine examination. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics made a rare disclosure of health problems during Sunday noon prayers last week, the first time since he became pontiff.
Leo waved to the crowd as he entered Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Tuesday.
The surgery was conducted by Dr. Stefano Margaritora, Gemelli’s chief thoracic surgeon, and began with the rosary recited in the hospital chapel.
The Vatican said Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery to remove a lung nodule and was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma.