Pope Leo XIV left the Gemelli hospital in Rome on Saturday, Oct. 17, according to Vatican News and several outlets; the AP, via The Independent, puts it four days after his lung cancer surgery. On Saturday morning, Vatican News reports, the Holy See Press Office released a statement from his doctors, Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora, saying that blood tests and a chest X-ray that morning confirmed that his clinical condition allowed him to leave. Vatican News published its report at 11:41 AM Rome time (2:41 AM PT).
Outlets quote the doctors’ statement in slightly different English translations. The Guardian and CNA carry the same wording: “Considering the blood tests, the chest X-ray done this morning, and evaluating the clinical picture, the Holy Father has been deemed fit for discharge.” The Associated Press, in a report by Colleen Barry carried by The Independent, renders the key phrase from the pope’s personal physician and surgeon as “deemed fit for discharge from the hospital,” and says they based it on blood test results and a chest X-ray performed Saturday morning, along with an assessment of his clinical condition. This desk did not find the Italian original on the press office’s bulletin page for Oct. 17 when it checked.
A second press office statement set out the day, in the Vatican News translation: “Following the doctors’ assessment this morning, Pope Leo XIV will be discharged today from Gemelli Hospital, where he was hospitalized for surgery on his right lung.” It went on: “He will leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican. Tomorrow, he will lead the Angelus prayer from the window of the papal apartment.” The AP describes the Angelus as the traditional noon blessing, delivered from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square. CNA notes that John Paul II and Francis, during their own stays at the Gemelli, delivered the prayer from the windows of their hospital rooms.
The Guardian reports that the pope “walked unaided from the hospital on Saturday afternoon, to cheers from well-wishers.” Agenzia Nova, in an update from Rome, says he spent a few minutes with the faithful who had waited to greet him. No source this desk read gives an exact departure time; Saturday afternoon in Rome corresponds to early Saturday morning PT.
Accounts of his last hospital Mass differ in detail. Vatican News, citing the press office on Saturday morning, said that before returning to the Vatican the pope would celebrate Mass “in the room set aside for that purpose on the 10th floor of Gemelli Hospital.” The Guardian says he celebrated Mass “in his room on the 10th-floor” before his discharge. Agenzia Nova says he celebrated Mass in the chapel on the tenth floor during his stay, and that on Friday morning he said Mass in a hall set up on that floor, with off-duty medical and nursing staff and members of the Vatican gendarmerie present, according to the Vatican press.
The operation took place on Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to CNA. The AP report says surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule, and that the surgery confirmed adenocarcinoma, “the most common type of lung cancer.” This desk covered the diagnosis in an earlier story. The Guardian recalls that the pope himself disclosed the nodule during his Angelus the week before, which the paper calls “a rare moment of Vatican transparency.”
Several questions stay open. The Guardian reports that doctors said on Wednesday that his recovery had progressed normally; the paper adds that doctors await the results of tests that should show whether the cancer has spread and whether he will need more treatment. Neither Saturday statement, as Vatican News and the outlets above quote them, mentions those results. The Vatican had first estimated a week-long hospital stay, and his appointments stood canceled until Oct. 20, according to the Guardian.
His travel plans also look uncertain. The Guardian says it remains unclear whether he will make “an intense 12-day trip to South America planned in November,” and that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told reporters on Friday that the pope may need to readjust his trip schedule, at least for South America, depending on his health.
The pope kept working from the hospital. On Friday he spoke by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a Holy See Press Office statement reported by Vatican News: “During the conversation, the Holy Father expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance, and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population.” Vatican News quotes Parolin as saying “some 2,000 civilians need humanitarian routes through which they can leave.” Agenzia Nova reports that, according to the Kremlin, Putin held Ukrainian authorities responsible for the humanitarian situation in Oleshky; this desk did not read the Kremlin readout.
Two small discrepancies turned up in the reports. The Guardian spells the surgeon’s name “Margaritoria,” while Vatican News and CNA spell it Margaritora; this desk uses the Vatican spelling. The Guardian also calls the Mass site his room, while Vatican News describes a room set aside for the purpose, as noted above. Reading note: this desk read Vatican News, the Guardian, CNA, the AP report carried by The Independent and Agenzia Nova; it could not open the AP’s own page, which timed out.
