Pope Leo XIV is out of bed, walking and eating after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung, with post-operative tests indicating that his recovery is progressing normally, his doctors said on Wednesday.
Part of the pope’s right lung was removed during Tuesday’s operation at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is now awaiting biopsy results to determine whether the cancer has spread.
Blood tests and a chest X-ray have “confirmed a normal post-operative course”, doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said in a statement released by the Vatican.
“The values are within the expected range for the type of procedure performed,” they said.
The discovery that a nodule in Leo’s lung was cancerous has plunged the Catholic Church into a period of uncertainty.
“It’s a shock for everyone. We’re in ‘wait-and-see’ mode,” a Vatican source told AFP.
Doctors said the pontiff’s recovery was “proceeding as expected”. He had eaten breakfast and lunch, walked around his room and undergone respiratory physiotherapy.
The 71-year-old, who was elected last year as the first American pope, announced unexpectedly after Sunday prayers that he would undergo surgery.
Messages of support have poured in from around the world, including from Britain’s King Charles III, who is also receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer.
A banner reading “Long live the pope!” was displayed outside the hospital, while a small group of people gathered to pray for the pontiff.
Among them was Sister Angele Bilegue, who said she had come to offer her prayers and spiritual support.
“I’m not worried. I came to express my closeness, to show my spiritual support, because I also came for Pope Francis,” she told AFP.
Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, spent five weeks at the same hospital last year receiving treatment for double pneumonia before his death at the Vatican on April 21, 2025.
Medical experts said Leo’s prognosis would depend largely on the stage of the cancer and whether it had spread. The Vatican has said the tumour was detected early and was localised.
Before the operation, the Vatican indicated that the pope’s recovery would take about a week. All his audiences have been cancelled until October 20.
“If we are dealing with stage I or II disease, and recovery is good… the patient can resume a normal life and usual activities within a few weeks,” Alain Gelibter, an oncologist at Rome’s Policlinico Umberto I hospital, told AFP.
The Chicago-born pontiff is staying in a room on the hospital’s 10th floor, next to a papal suite with a private chapel that is currently undergoing renovation.
He arrived at the hospital on Tuesday smiling and waving to those gathered outside.
Meanwhile, dozens of faithful prayed for his health during the operation in the hospital chapel.
New uncertainty
News of the illness has unsettled the Catholic Church, where Leo had been widely regarded as a relatively young, active and athletic pontiff.
A Vatican source told AFP that the pope had appeared “unwell” after his trip to France at the end of September.
“If this forces him to slow down, it might not be a bad thing, given his very hectic pace,” the source said.
Marco Politi, a veteran Vatican commentator, told AFP that the pope’s illness had created uncertainty about the future direction of the Church.
“The Church is now in a state of uncertainty. When Leo was elected everyone foresaw a long papacy,” he said.
Hendro Munsterman, a theologian and expert for Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad, said the diagnosis could alter public perceptions of the pontiff.
“We have a pope whom everyone described as young, active and athletic. Now, we have a pope who also has his own vulnerabilities, which will change his image,” he told AFP.
Munsterman suggested that the pope’s health problems could prompt him to accelerate key personnel appointments within the Church.
Politi said Leo had been working to repair divisions between different factions within Catholicism, adding that many would want him to resume that work as soon as possible.
On Wednesday, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who was recently nominated to the influential position of dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated Mass in St Peter’s Square in place of Leo.
The surgery has also raised questions about whether the pope will proceed with a lengthy visit scheduled for next month to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary.
AFP
