Pope Leo XIV leaves hospital, returns to Vatican four days after lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV left Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, and returned to the papal apartments in Vatican City, Vatican News reported. The Associated Press, Italy's RaiNews and the Italian Catholic broadcaster TV2000 also reported his departure and return. He left four days after surgery on Tuesday, Oct. 13, in which doctors removed part of his right lung to treat lung cancer.

The Holy See Press Office had announced Saturday morning that he would be discharged and would return to the Vatican in the early afternoon.

The departure

The pope walked out of the hospital and into a waiting vehicle as dozens of well-wishers greeted him, AP reported. RaiNews said on X that he left on foot, greeting the faithful. TV2000 said on X that he entered the Vatican by car through the Perugino gate.

He left shortly after 3:30 p.m. Rome time (about 9:30 a.m. ET), according to Catholic News Agency (CNA). The Vatican has not given an exact departure time.

As he left, he stopped to greet and bless a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl who has recovered from cancer and whom he had met in St. Peter's Square on Dec. 31, Vatican News reported.

Leo, 71, is the first pope from the United States.

What the Vatican said

In a statement Saturday morning, the Holy See Press Office said the pope "will be discharged today from Gemelli Hospital, where he was hospitalized for surgery on his right lung." It said, "He will leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican," according to Vatican News' official English wording.

His doctors said blood tests and a chest X-ray that morning showed he was ready to go home. "Based on the blood tests and chest X-ray performed this morning, and after evaluating his clinical condition, the Holy Father has been deemed fit for discharge," they said, in a translation published by ABC News.

The statement came from Dr. Luigi Carbone, director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State Governorate, and Prof. Stefano Margaritora, who led the Gemelli thoracic surgery team that operated. It said nothing else about his recovery.

Before returning to the Vatican, the pope celebrated Mass in a room set aside for that purpose on the hospital's 10th floor, Vatican News reported.

The surgery

Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope's right lung on the afternoon of Oct. 13 using a video-assisted technique, according to a doctors' statement released by the Vatican that day. "To ensure a radical resection, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique," the statement said.

An examination during the operation confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, as earlier tests had suggested, the statement said. AP describes adenocarcinoma as the most common type of lung cancer. The doctors called the operation successful and said there were no complications.

On Friday, Oct. 16, the Vatican said tests "confirmed the steady improvement in his overall condition." It said he was able to "carry out normal daily activities entirely independently".

What comes next

The Vatican has not released final tissue results or said whether further treatment is planned.

The doctors' Oct. 13 statement said tests would be run on the removed tissue in the following days. Neither the Oct. 16 bulletins nor Saturday's discharge statements mentioned those results. AP reported that doctors are still awaiting test results to understand the cancer's molecular and genetic makeup, whether it has spread beyond the lobe and whether any further treatment is necessary.

The pope will lead the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Oct. 18, at noon Rome time (6 a.m. ET) from the window of the papal apartment, the Vatican said. As of Saturday afternoon, Oct. 17, the Angelus was still upcoming.

In an interview with Vatican News published Saturday, Prof. Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who led the operation, said the pope's blood test results were "completely normal" at discharge and that he could be "fully recovered in another ten days or so". He said there were "no clinical reasons" why the pope's planned Nov. 6-17 visit to Latin America should not take place.

Why it matters

The discharge ends a hospital stay that began with his admission on Oct. 13, the day of the operation. It came sooner than the roughly one-week stay described before surgery.

The tests on the removed tissue that doctors said would follow are the next official update to watch. Until then, the Vatican has given no public word on whether he needs more treatment.