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Pope Leo XIV Discharged After Lung Cancer Surgery
· Confirmed
In Short: The Vatican announced Saturday that Pope Leo XIV had been discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital after undergoing surgery for lung cancer.
Based on blood tests and a chest X-ray performed that morning, and after evaluating his clinical condition, the Holy Father was deemed fit for discharge, according to a joint statement from his personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and chief surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.
Pope Leo walked out of the hospital at about 3:30 p.m., greeted supporters, and stopped to speak with a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl named Varvara who had previously greeted him while being treated for cancer in Rome earlier this year.
Varvara, with the help of a Ukrainian priest as translator, explained to the pope that his embrace before her own cancer surgery in December had given her 'the strength to overcome the illness.' She handed Pope Leo a large printed photo of their hug in St. Peter’s Square.
The pope had been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common subtype of non-small cell lung cancer, after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule during a routine medical examination.
The surgery, which lasted approximately 90 minutes, was described as 'successful' with no complications. Further post-operation tests on the tissue removed were planned in the days following the surgery.
Before being discharged, Pope Leo celebrated noon Mass at the hospital as he did the previous day, the Vatican spokesman noted.
The Vatican press office said earlier that the pope would return to the Vatican, where he will continue his recovery.
The pope’s discharge comes less than one week since he announced to the world that he would be undergoing lung surgery during his Sunday Angelus address on Oct. 11.
His surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News that there are 'no clinical reasons' the pope should not make his planned trip to South America, Nov. 6 to 17.
The pope thanked Professor Stefano Margaritora, who performed the surgery, together with the medical and nursing team, before leaving the hospital.
What this adds
The pope’s surgery was performed on Tuesday, and he was discharged on Saturday, four days later.
The Vatican had canceled all the pope’s audiences through Tuesday, 20 October, ahead of the surgery.
The pope’s discharge was announced by the pontiff’s attending physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and the surgeon who performed the operation, Professor Stefano Margaritora.
Background
Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, thanked medical staff as he was pictured celebrating Mass from his hospital room for the first time since undergoing lung surgery, the Vatican press office said.
Pope Leo XIV was discharged from Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday, four days after undergoing surgery.
What's confirmed
- In a joint statement released by the Vatican that morning, the pope's personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and chief surgeon Dr. Stefano Margaritora said, "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."
- “Since almost a week has already passed, I believe the Pope could be fully recovered in another ten days or so.” As he left the hospital, Pope Leo stopped to speak with a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl named Varvara who had previously greeted him while being treated for cancer in Rome earlier this year, according to Vatican News.
- The pope walked out of Rome's Gemelli Hospital at about 3:30 p.m.
- Following the surgery, the Vatican revealed that the pope had been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma.
- With the help of a Ukrainian priest as translator, Varvara explained to the pope that his embrace of her before her own cancer surgery in December had given her "the strength to overcome the illness." The girl handed Pope Leo a large printed photo of their hug in St.
- According to Vatican News, further post-operation tests on the tissue removed were planned in the days following the surgery.
- Before being discharged from the hospital, Pope Leo celebrated noon Mass at the hospital as he did the previous day, the Vatican spokesman noted.
- The Vatican press office said earlier that the pope would return to the Vatican.
- The pope himself announced to the public in St Peter’s Square last Sunday, following the Angelus prayer, that a routine medical examination had revealed a nodule that doctors recommended should be removed.
- The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule.
- The two doctors said the pope had undergone blood tests and a chest X-ray that morning, with the results confirming his clinical condition meant he could leave hospital.
- Pope Leo XIV is recovering at Gemelli Hospital after surgery for lung cancer, and more than 2,000 of you have now written to him.
What's still developing
- 6-13 trip to three South American countries shouldn’t take place.
- It was only last Sunday that Leo XIV himself, at the conclusion of the Angelus prayer, announced the news of his imminent hospitalization and the associated surgery.
- "The Holy Father falls into the category of people who discover they have lung cancer entirely by chance – not because they are undergoing preventive screening, but because they undergo examinations for other reasons," Margaritora said.
- Lung adenocarcinoma begins in cells in the lung that make mucus, called epithelial cells, which line the surface of the lungs, the American Cancer Society says.
- The first American-born pope said he planned to gradually resume his regular activities with God's help and the continued prayers of the faithful.
- Leo, 71, underwent surgery on October 13 to remove the lower lobe of his right lung after doctors detected a suspicious growth.
- Ahead of the Pope’s surgery, the Prefecture of the Papal Household, which coordinates the Pope’s public activities, had announced the cancellation of all the Pope’s audiences through Tuesday, 20 October.
- Pope Leo XIV appeared at the window of his private study in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Sunday, just one day after being discharged early from the hospital following surgery last Tuesday.
- “He is not a man in a rush,” America ’s veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell often told me in the early months of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy.
- In his letter, he explained that he came from Taurisano, in the province of Lecce, and, like the Pope, was staying on the hospital’s tenth floor, after having undergone his own operation, head surgery.
- Pope Leo XIV thanked people around the world for their prayers as he begins returning to his duties.
- The Pope is recovering in the Apostolic Palace following surgery for pulmonary adenocarcinoma on October 13.