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Pope Leo XIV Cancels Assisi Trip Post-Surgery

7:21 AM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: Pope Leo XIV will not attend a peace gathering in Assisi next week after doctors advised against the helicopter journey as he recovers from lung cancer surgery.

The Vatican announced Friday that Leo, 71, was advised not to travel to facilitate his recovery from last week’s operation.

The Assisi meeting, entitled “Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” is expected to bring together 384 representatives of religions, cultures, and institutions from 53 countries.

The pope had been due to attend a gathering on Tuesday marking the 40th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s landmark interfaith peace gathering.

Leo’s doctors said a follow-up chest X-ray confirmed he is recovering well, but given the short time that has elapsed since the operation, they recommended as a precaution that he not make the helicopter trip.

The Vatican said Leo wants to express his closeness to participants and reaffirm his belief that the “spirit of Assisi,” dialogue and the search for words and gestures of peace remain valuable resources at a time of conflict.

The pope will need no further treatment for lung cancer after tests confirmed the disease was localized, but his activities will be guided by medical advice during his recovery.

Pope Leo has continued his daily work routine from the hospital, the Vatican spokesman said, noting that the pontiff received a visit Oct. 15 from Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, the substitute secretary for general affairs at the Vatican Secretariat of State.

The Vatican on Friday announced that Pope Leo XIV is swiftly recovering from lung surgery and will make his first public appearance on Sunday, when he will deliver the traditional noontime Angelus Prayer.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated a mass at Rome's Gemelli hospital Friday after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung, photos released by the Vatican showed.

Pope Leo XIV thanked the doctors, nurses and staff at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for their care during his recent hospitalization and expressed gratitude to those who prayed for him, according to Vatican News.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• ROME — Pope Leo XIV will miss a planned trip to Assisi next week after doctors advised against the helicopter journey to the Italian town as he recovers from lung cancer surgery, the Vatican said Friday.
• The Vatican said Leo, 71, was advised not to travel “to facilitate his recovery” from last week’s operation.
• The Vatican said Leo wants to express his closeness to participants and reaffirm his belief that the “spirit of Assisi,” dialogue and the search for words and gestures of peace remain valuable resources at a time of conflict.
• The pope had been due to attend a gathering on Tuesday marking the 40th anniversary of St.
• In a separate statement, the pope's doctors said a follow-up chest X-ray confirmed he's recovering well, but given the short time that has elapsed since the operation, they recommended as a precaution that he not make the helicopter trip.
• The Assisi meeting commemorates the landmark interfaith peace gathering convened by St.
• The Vatican on Friday released the first images of Pope Leo XIV since his lung cancer surgery, showing him celebrating Mass, as doctors said that tests confirmed the “continued improvement” in his recovery.
• “His post-operative recovery allows him to carry out his normal daily activities completely on his own,” said a medical update signed by Leo’s personal physician Dr. Luigi Carbone and the head of thoracic surgery at the Gemelli hospital, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.
• Pope Leo XIV will not require further cancer treatment after a successful surgery to remove part of his right lung, the Vatican announced Wednesday.
• "At the moment, we have not received any communication from the doctors ⁠regarding ​his discharge, other than what we ​were told from the beginning about a one-week timeframe," a Vatican spokesman ​said.
• The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

What's still developing

• For Leo XIV, the so-called “spirit of Assisi” retains particular relevance amid contemporary conflicts Photo: Vatican Media The Vatican’s decision does not suggest a setback in his recovery: reflects the prudence required after major surgery, even when clinical results are encouraging.
• A milestone in the Church’s pursuit of peace The Assisi gathering commemorates an initiative launched by St. John Paul II in 1986, when religious leaders came together to pray for peace in a world marked by ideological divisions, regional conflicts and the threat of nuclear confrontation.
• Today, October 17, Varvara has recovered and traveled from Turin to thank the Pope and wish him a speedy recovery.
• “We can’t make any type of predictions,” Parolin said Thursday, according to the LaPresse and ANSA news agencies.
• This experience has made me feel particularly close to all those who are living with illness or… The Vatican has not confirmed whether the pope will still attend his planned South America tour, scheduled for Nov. 6-17.
• The pope spent approximately three hours in the operating room, although the surgery itself lasted about 90 minutes.
• Shortly after his election, Pope Leo said that he had only been hospitalized once in his life before becoming pope when he caught typhoid fever after recently arriving as an Augustinian missionary in Peru in 1985.
• By Nicole Winfield And Colleen Barry, The Associated Press, Pope Leo XIV resumed his regular diet, began walking and underwent respiratory exercises on Wednesday as he recovered from surgery to remove a cancerous mass from his lung, the Vatican said.
• Dr. PierCarlo Gentile, head of radiation oncology at Rome’s San Pietro Fatebenefratelli Hospital, said the minimally invasive, video-assisted chest surgery the pope underwent typically requires 15 to 20 days of recovery.
• Also on Friday, the Vatican released a selection of letters and drawings sent by children at the hospital, including a picture of a tree "For Pope Leo", complete with grass, sun and clouds, and a letter from an 18-year-old girl who wrote to Leo: "Better days will come for the both of us."

Sources

• Crux: Covering all things Catholiclink
• Naharnetlink
• Vatican Newslink
• ZENIT - Englishlink
• Ukrinformlink
• Rvasialink
• NBC Newslink
• Deseretlink
• Fox Newslink
• DWlink
• Miamiarchlink
• OSV Newslink
• Mcalllink
• Halifaxlink
• France24link
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV Discharged After Lung Cancer Surgery link
• Tradition Embraced — video link