Pope Leo XIV returned to public duties at the Vatican on Sunday, delivering the Angelus prayer from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square five days after surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his right lung. It was his first official engagement since he was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday.
The 71-year-old pontiff thanked people who had prayed for him during his hospitalization and expressed appreciation to the doctors, nurses and other hospital workers involved in his care. He said the experience had deepened his closeness to people suffering from illness. Leo also said he intended to resume his regular activities gradually, with God’s help and continued prayers from the faithful.
During the prayer, Leo spoke about Jesus’ teaching to give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor and to God what belongs to God. He urged Christians to act with integrity and avoid hypocrisy.
The pope’s return came earlier than the approximately one-week hospital stay doctors had initially expected after Tuesday’s operation. On leaving the hospital Saturday, Leo told a reporter in English that he was feeling “much better.”
The surgery was the first major health crisis of Leo’s 17-month pontificate. Doctors identified the tumor as adenocarcinoma, described in the source report as the most common form of lung cancer. Further testing is underway on the tumor and nearby lymph nodes to establish the extent of the disease and whether additional treatment may be needed. Potential options cited in the report include chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapy; it does not say that any of these treatments have been selected.
Leo’s surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News on Saturday that the pope appeared well enough to undertake a planned trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from Nov. 6 to Nov. 17. The itinerary is described as involving 12 flights and two helicopter rides to high-altitude destinations. Margaritora said he saw no clinical reason the trip could not go ahead, and estimated that Leo would recover fully from the surgery in about 10 more days.
The report did not say that the further testing had been completed or that the November trip was definitively confirmed. Leo’s Sunday appearance marked his return to public duties while those medical questions remained under evaluation.
Among those watching in the square was Claire Holland, a visitor from Jacksonville, Florida. She told The Associated Press she felt “very blessed” to see the pope and said she was pleased he felt well enough to appear.
