Pope Leo XIV to leave Gemelli hospital today and lead Sunday Angelus prayer

Pope Leo XIV will be discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday afternoon, just four days after undergoing lung-cancer surgery, the Vatican said — and will appear in public for the first time since the operation to lead the traditional noontime Angelus prayer on Sunday.

The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed in a roughly 90-minute operation on Tuesday, which confirmed a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. The Vatican described the surgery as successful. He had been expected to remain in hospital for about a week, but his doctors, Dr Luigi Carbone and Prof Stefano Margaritora, said blood tests and a chest X-ray on Saturday morning showed he was “fit for discharge” (https://www.capitalfm.com/radio/news/uk-world/pope-leo-to-leave-hospital-today-after-lung-c/).

“Following the doctors’ assessment this morning, Pope Leo XIV will be discharged today from Gemelli Hospital,” the Holy See Press Office said. “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” (https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-10/pope-leo-xiv-fifth-day-health-update-gemelli-hospital.html).

The discharge announcement came a day after the Pope telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin from his hospital bed. Leo expressed “deep concern” for the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine, and urged a truce to allow food and first aid in and civilians to evacuate safely. The Kremlin said Putin had agreed to cooperate on humanitarian aid (https://theprint.in/world/putin-agrees-to-cooperate-with-pope-leos-plea-for-aid-for-ukrainian-town/3074262/).