Pope Leo XIV Cleared for Discharge Four Days After Lung Surgery; Sunday Angelus to Be First Public Appearance
Pope Leo XIV has been cleared to leave the hospital four days after lung surgery, the Holy See Press Office said on October 17. The pope's personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, and his surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora, said that based on blood tests and a chest X-ray performed that morning, and after evaluating his clinical condition, the 71-year-old pontiff was fit to be discharged. He was scheduled to leave Rome's Gemelli Hospital in the early afternoon on Saturday and return to the Vatican.
Before leaving, the pope was to celebrate Mass in the room set aside on the hospital's 10th floor — the second consecutive day he celebrated Mass there. On October 16 he celebrated Mass at the hospital and distributed Communion to medical and nursing staff and members of the Vatican Gendarmerie; the Vatican the same day released the first photographs of the pope since the operation, as officials described his postoperative recovery as progressing normally.
The Press Office also announced that on Sunday, October 18, the pope will lead the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment, his first public appearance since the October 13 surgery.
Leo announced at the Sunday Angelus on October 11 that he would undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule. On October 13, surgeons at Gemelli removed the lower lobe of his right lung, and pathology confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma; the Vatican said the operation was successful and without complications. Reuters reported that doctors have not yet disclosed the size of the tumor or whether the disease had spread to nearby lymph nodes — key factors in determining prognosis — and that plans for the pope's November trip to Latin America have not been announced.
Source: Holy See Press Office statement, October 17 (as reported by Reuters and the Associated Press).
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：梵蒂冈宗座大楼（教宗周日在此寓所窗口领念三钟经；资料图）。摄影：Dietmar Rabich，CC BY-SA 4.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
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