Pope Leo XIV thanked thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday for their prayers during the “delicate phase” following his lung operation, saying he had now overcome it and would gradually resume his duties.
The 71-year-old pope was speaking at the Angelus, his first public appearance since leaving Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday.
He underwent surgery on Tuesday to remove a cancerous nodule from his right lung, and doctors said he had recovered quickly enough to be discharged within days.
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Appearing at the window of the Apostolic Palace, where he lives, Leo was welcomed by cheers of “Long live the Pope!” that rang out across the square.
“I wish to thank all those who, in recent days, have prayed for me. I truly felt your support, thank you,” the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics said after the prayer.
He also thanked the doctors, nurses and staff at Gemelli hospital, saying the experience had brought him closer to all those living with illness and disability.
“This delicate phase has now been overcome and, as you know, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God’s help and your prayers,” he said, smiling and waving to the crowd.
The pope appeared to be in good health, and the faithful in the square welcomed his return to the Vatican with relief and joy.
Christopher Butler, 68, a parish priest from Leeds in northern England, described Leo as “a great shepherd for the Catholic Church.”
“I am concerned: he must take the time to recover fully, but he is clearly a very resilient man, eager to return to work, to lead the Church and to be a global leader,” Butler told AFP.
Soledad Espinosa, 59, from Ecuador, said she was pleased doctors had cleared the pope to travel to Latin America next month.
“We all hope for his recovery and that he has come through this ordeal. We know he is well and we are happy about that,” she said.
The pope’s surgery had raised doubts over a planned trip from 6 to 17 November to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where Leo spent two decades as a missionary.
But Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who operated on him, told Vatican News in an interview published on Saturday that there was “no clinical reason” why the visit should not go ahead.
The pope’s discharge ended several days of uncertainty that had shaken the Vatican and Catholics around the world, less than two years into the pontificate of the Chicago-born pope, who had previously been seen as healthy and athletic.
Margaritora said Leo was in an “absolutely satisfactory clinical condition” and should be fully recovered within about 10 days.
He said the tumour had been discovered by chance during a routine abdominal X-ray, which revealed a “small spot” at the base of the pope’s right lung.
Although he described the operation as routine, the surgeon praised Leo’s commitment to his recovery, saying he had thrown himself into it “body and soul.”
“His determination to recover very quickly has proved highly effective in every respect: it has truly been admirable,” Margaritora added.
Even while in hospital, Leo had already resumed some of his duties, including a phone call on Friday to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging a ceasefire in the occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
