Just days after major surgery, Pope Leo stepped to a window above St Peter’s Square on Sunday and delivered a message many in the crowd had been anxiously waiting to hear: he is recovering, grateful for the prayers, and preparing to ease back into work.
Thousands gathered in the square erupted in cheers as the pontiff appeared at the Apostolic Palace window. A week earlier, during the traditional Angelus blessing, he disclosed that doctors had found a nodule on his lung and that it would be removed surgically.
“Now that this delicate phase is behind me, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God’s help and your prayers,” Leo said, his voice sounding strong four days after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung.
He told the faithful the experience of the past week “has made me feel especially close to those facing illness and infirmity.”
A view of the crowd as Pope Leo stands at the window of the apostolic palace
Leo said he had “truly felt your support” and offered “particular gratitude to the doctors, nurses and all the staff at Gemelli hospital” in Rome, where he was treated.
After a brief pause, he waved again, then withdrew from view and returned into his apartment inside the Apostolic Palace.
The 71-year-old pope underwent the operation on Tuesday, the first major health event of his 17-month pontificate, with surgeons removing the lower lobe of his right lung.
Doctors later confirmed the surgery found adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer.
Speaking in English to a reporter as he left Rome’s Gemelli hospital for the Vatican, the pontiff said he was doing “much better” after a stay that proved shorter than initially expected.
“I don’t believe it, because he was just operated on the other day,” said Cosimo Mastrocinque, a retired factory worker visiting the Vatican from the southern region of Puglia.
“It is a miracle that he recovered already.”
The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed on Tuesday
Leo’s next major engagement is a demanding 6-17 November journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru that includes about a dozen flights and two helicopter rides to high altitudes.
His surgeon, Dr Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News that “there are no clinical reasons why it should not take place.”
“The Holy Father has put his heart and soul into his recovery,” Dr Margaritora told Vatican News, adding that he expected the pope to recover fully from surgery “in another 10 days or so.”
Doctors are still awaiting histological tests of the tumour and related lymph nodes. Those findings, along with analysis of the tumour’s molecular and genetic profile, will guide decisions on whether further treatment is needed.
Potential options include chemotherapy, a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, or targeted oral therapy tailored to the tumour’s genetic characteristics.
