Pope Leo Health Update: Vatican Clears Pontiff for Discharge
Church officials say doctors have approved the pontiff's return home after a period of medical care.
Pope Leo is due to leave Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday afternoon, the Vatican said, four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung to treat cancer. New blood tests and chest imaging showed he was well enough to go home.
The Vatican had said earlier this week that he would probably stay in hospital for about a week.
The 71-year-old pope has not been seen in public since Tuesday’s operation. On Sunday, he is scheduled to lead the midday Angelus prayer for pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Square. The Vatican said it will be his first public engagement since the operation.
Leo told worshippers at the Angelus on October 11 that a checkup had found “a localized nodule” on his lung. He entered the hospital on Tuesday, stopping at the entrance to greet officials and some patients in wheelchairs. Stefano Margaritora, the hospital’s chief thoracic surgeon, led the surgical team.
According to the Vatican, the procedure lasted about 90 minutes and finished without complications. Tests done during the operation confirmed the lung cancer that doctors had suspected from earlier examinations, and the pope woke up normally, the Vatican said in its medical bulletin.
The size of the tumor has not been made public, and neither has the question of whether it spread. The Vatican has not said if he will need further treatment, and doctors are still waiting for more test results. Surgery is usually the first treatment for this type of lung cancer, and any further care depends on what the remaining test results show.
Leo was elected in May 2025 and is the first pope from the United States. He is relatively young for the office and has a reputation for a heavy workload, and news of the diagnosis surprised many people in Rome and beyond. The operation is his first hospital stay since he became pope.
The Vatican indicated on Friday that his work will go on. It said preparations are continuing for his visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17, an itinerary described as among the busiest planned for a pope in decades, and it published the names of the reporters accredited to travel with him. His other audiences are canceled through October 20.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said on Friday that the pope might have to adjust the pace of his schedule depending on his health. Cardinals seldom say this in public about a pope, and some of his colleagues have also begun to voice concern.
The Vatican also released the first photographs of Leo since the surgery on Friday, showing him celebrating Mass and standing without assistance. His predecessor, Francis, had a long hospital stay and other health problems in the final months of his life.
