After lung surgery, Pope Leo XIV cleared to leave Gemelli hospital; Angelus Sunday
Four days after the removal of a lung lobe, the 71-year-old was due to return to the Vatican on Saturday, the Vatican said. On Sunday, he plans to recite the Angelus from the window.
Archive image · Photo: Edgar Beltrán / The Pillar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Pope Leo XIV was due to leave Rome's Gemelli hospital on Saturday, according to the Vatican. The Holy See press office said the 71-year-old would be discharged in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican. Blood tests and a chest X-ray had confirmed that he could be discharged. Doctors had already noted a "good recovery" of the operated lung on Thursday, according to the Vatican.
The pope underwent surgery on his right lung on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The lower lobe of the right lung was removed, according to the Vatican; a pulmonary adenocarcinoma was confirmed, as preliminary examinations had suggested. The operation itself lasted about 90 minutes, with about three hours spent in the operating room. "The procedure was successful, and there were no complications," the press office said.
Leo XIV is scheduled to recite the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment on Sunday, Oct. 18.