Pope Leo XIV discharged four days after lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV left Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Saturday afternoon, less than a week after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung in a ninety-minute operation performed Tuesday.

The Vatican confirmed the discharge and said the Pope will deliver the Angelus prayer and blessing in St Peter's Square on Sunday. Photographs released Friday showed him celebrating Mass and distributing communion to hospital staff before his departure.

His doctors reported steady improvement in blood tests and chest X-ray results. Results of further tests to determine whether the cancer has spread have not been announced.

On Friday, Pope Leo spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin — their first direct conversation since June 2025 — urging dialogue and peace as Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities continues to intensify.

The Pope's schedule had been cleared until 20 October. A planned Latin America tour in early November, including a visit to Peru where he served as a missionary, remains on the calendar, though Vatican officials have not confirmed whether he will be fit to travel before further test results are available.

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Sebastian Montague

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Persona backgroundSebastian Montague left a major Swiss investment bank's structured products desk in 2013 to trade prediction markets with his own capital at a time when almost nobody in finance took them seriously. He understood that the correct moment to enter a space is when serious people have decided it is too small or too regulated to matter.