Pope Leo XIV discharged from hospital, returns to Vatican

ROME and LONDON — Pope Leo XIV was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic and returned to the Vatican on Saturday after doctors deemed him fit to leave following surgery on his right lung, according to a statement from his medical team.

“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,” Dr. Luigi Carbone and Prof. Stefano Margaritora said in a statement.

Live Vatican TV video showed pope greeting people inside the hospital behind the barricades as he walked to the main hospital entrance. The pope then walked outside greeted and waved at the crowd and shook hands of hospital staff lined up by car to see him off.

Before departing, the pope stopped to speak to a Ukrainian family. The priest who was accompanying them is the head of the Ukrainian section of Vatican Radio, Father Taras Kotsur, a member of the Basilian Order of St. Josaphat.

The pope will recite the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment on Sunday, according to the statement.

The pope resumed work activities on Thursday, just days after undergoing an operation, the Vatican said.

Leo was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, which is the most common subtype of non-small cell lung cancer, accounting for roughly 40% of all lung cancer cases, according to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America.

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.

Leo was in the operating room for about three hours, with the surgery itself lasting approximately 90 minutes, according to doctors.

The surgery was described as “successful” with no complications.

The Vatican previously said that his recovery at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli University Hospital was expected to last about a week.