Rome, 17 October. Pope Leo XIV left Rome's Gemelli hospital and returned to the Vatican on the fifth day after surgery in which the lower lobe of his right lung was removed (Vatican News, NPR).
The pope's personal physician Luigi Carbone and the hospital's head of thoracic surgery Stefano Margaritora said blood tests and a chest X-ray that morning confirmed that his condition allowed discharge (Vatican News). Before leaving, Leo XIV celebrated Mass on the hospital's tenth floor, and he left shortly after 3:30 pm local time; on 18 October he is due to lead the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace (Vatican News, National Catholic Register).
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni put the expected post-operative recovery time at about a week (NPR). The day before, his doctors said recovery was "proceeding normally" and an X-ray showed good recovery of the operated lung (TASS).
Background: The 71-year-old pope was admitted to hospital on 13 October; the video-assisted operation lasted about an hour and a half, and histological examination confirmed lung adenocarcinoma (National Catholic Register, NPR). Leo XIV himself announced on 11 October in St Peter's Square that doctors had found a "localized nodule" in his lung at a "very early stage" (NPR).
List of sources used
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
