Pope Leo made his first public appearance on Sunday since undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung, telling a crowd in St Peter’s Square that he would “gradually resume” his activities.
The 71-year-old Catholic leader appeared unaided at the window of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace to deliver his Sunday Angelus, drawing applause from the faithful. It came a week after he shocked worshippers by announcing that a small nodule had been found on his lung.
Diagnosis and recovery
Leo was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, on Tuesday, after doctors removed part of his right lung to extract the tumour. He thanked those who had prayed for him in recent days, saying the experience had made him feel especially close “to all those who are going through illness or a state of infirmity”.
“Now that this delicate phase has passed … I will gradually resume my activities, always with the help of God and your prayers,” he said.
Leo left Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday, where doctors deemed him “fit for discharge” after blood tests and a chest X-ray that morning. Earlier in the week, doctors said his recovery was progressing normally, but they were awaiting test results to determine whether the cancer had spread and if further treatment would be needed.
Work duties and travel plans
The Vatican had originally estimated a week-long stay in hospital. While there, Leo undertook some work duties, including a phone call to Vladimir Putin on Friday, during which he urged the Russian president to call a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
Questions have been raised over whether Leo could manage a gruelling 12-day trip to South America in November. However, his surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, said on Saturday there were “no clinical reasons” to prevent him from travelling. Margaritora told Vatican News that Leo had put “his heart and soul into his recovery” and expected him to fully recover “in another 10 days or so”.
Health background
Before the cancer diagnosis, Leo, who enjoys sports including tennis, was generally believed to be in good health and often uses the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome. The Gemelli hospital, in the north-west of the Italian capital, is renowned for treating reigning popes; Pope John Paul II stayed there so many times that the Vatican helped establish a high-security papal suite there.
