Pope Leo XIV is being released from the hospital on Saturday, four days after lung cancer surgery, and will deliver the traditional noon blessing Sunday from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican announced.
The 71-year-old Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.
His personal physician and surgeon said in a separate statement that Leo was “deemed fit for discharge from the hospital” based on blood test results and a chest X-ray performed Saturday morning along with an assessment of his clinical condition. He is set to leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican, the Vatican said in a brief statement.
With notable transparency, Leo announced last Sunday to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square that doctors had identified a nodule on his lung, and that it would be removed.
Since the surgery on Tuesday that confirmed the cancer diagnosis, Leo has given strong indications that he was recovering well, including by holding a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting with top aides and celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel. Spare medical bulletins from his personal physician and surgeon likewise indicated a good post-operative recovery that had allowed him to carry on “normal daily activities completely on his own.”