Pope Leo XIV left the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome on Saturday after being discharged, four days after undergoing surgery for pulmonary adenocarcinoma, and returned to the Vatican where he is scheduled to lead the Angelus prayer from the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace this Sunday.
The pontiff, at 71 years old, left the medical center walking normally and with a smile, greeting patients and faithful gathered at the main entrance of Gemelli.
Before getting into the official Vatican vehicle, he stopped for a few minutes to chat with a girl and her family member.
The discharge was authorized after an evaluation that included blood tests and a chest X-ray conducted that morning, as well as a general assessment of her clinical condition.
"It was deemed fit for hospital discharge following the results of blood tests and a chest X-ray conducted on Saturday morning, along with an assessment of his clinical condition," reported doctors Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora.
Before departing, the Pope celebrated a noon mass in a room converted into a chapel within the area where he had been hospitalized since Tuesday, October 13, the date of the surgery.
The surgery, which lasted approximately 90 minutes and concluded without complications, involved the removal of the lower lobe of the right lung using a video-assisted technique.
The intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common subtype of lung cancer, as had been suspected from previous tests.
The tumor was discovered accidentally during routine abdominal tests. While visualizing the lung bases due to the shape of the diaphragm, the doctors detected a small spot.
Pope Leo XIV himself showed no respiratory symptoms, and it was he who publicly announced on Sunday, October 11, during the Angelus in St. Peter's Square, that he would undergo surgery.
During his hospitalization, the Pope had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, celebrated Mass in the hospital's makeshift chapel, and met with his main collaborators, all signs of a recovery that his doctors described as "commendable."
Margaritora, a professor of Thoracic Surgery at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and director of the Thoracic Surgery Unit at Gemelli, described the operation as technically routine, although exceptionally human.
“Operating on a Pope has been an intimate emotion that I can hardly describe,” he stated in an interview granted to Vatican media.
Regarding the apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, scheduled from November 6 to 17, the surgeon was categorical: "I would say there are no clinical reasons that would prevent this trip," stated Margaritora, who estimated that the Pope will need about ten more days to achieve complete physical recovery, a timeframe that would leave three weeks before embarking on the Latin American journey.
Parallely, the Pope's older brother, Louis Prevost, 74, is receiving treatment in Florida for a relapse of multiple myeloma, adding a difficult personal dimension to the moment the Pope's family is going through. Louis Prevost is also facing his own cancer diagnosis while his brother recovers in Rome.
Doctors are still awaiting the definitive results of the tests to determine the molecular and genetic composition of the tumor, establish whether it has spread beyond the removed lobe, and decide if any additional treatment will be necessary.
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