Pope Leo XIV made his first major public appearance on Sunday since undergoing surgery to remove part of his right lung, thanking well-wishers for their prayers and saying he would gradually resume his duties.
The 71-year-old pontiff appeared smiling and spoke normally as he addressed thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his traditional Angelus prayer and address. He was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on Saturday, following surgery on Tuesday.
“I would like to thank all the people who have been praying for me in these days,” the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics told the crowd.
“Having overcome this delicate phase, as you know I will now gradually resume my activities,” he said.
As the pope appeared at the window of his Apostolic Palace, the crowd erupted into chants of “Viva il papa!” (Long live the pope!), welcoming his return to public engagements.
Visitors expressed relief at his recovery, although some urged him to take sufficient time to regain his strength.
Christopher Butler, 68, a parish priest from Leeds in northern England, described Leo as a “great shepherd for the Catholic Church”.
“I’m concerned he needs to take time to make a full recovery but he’s obviously a very resilient man and keen to return to work, to lead the Church and to be a world leader,” Butler said.
Soledad Espinosa, 59, from Ecuador, said she was pleased to hear that the pope could travel to Latin America next month if cleared by his doctors.
“We are all hoping for his recovery and that he has gotten through the situation well. We know that he is ok and we’re pleased,” she said.
Norma Grasso, 76, from Argentina, added: “We are waiting for him.”
November trip remains in focus
The pope’s surgery had raised questions about his planned November 6–17 visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where he spent two decades as a missionary.
However, his surgeon, Stefano Margaritora, told Vatican News that he believed there were “no clinical reasons why the trip should not go ahead”.
The pope’s discharge on Saturday ended several days of uncertainty that had unsettled the Vatican and Catholics around the world, less than two years into the Chicago-born pontiff’s papacy.
Margaritora said Leo was in “absolutely satisfactory clinical condition” and estimated that he would need another 10 days to recover fully.
According to the surgeon, the tumour was discovered by chance during a routine abdominal X-ray that captured a “little spot” at the base of the pope’s right lung.
Although Margaritora described the operation as routine, he praised Leo’s commitment to his recovery.
“He really put his heart and soul into it, like the most motivated patients,” the surgeon said.
“His determination to achieve a very quick and very effective recovery from every point of view was really commendable,” he added.
The results of tests to establish whether the cancer has spread are still pending.
Despite his recent surgery, Leo has already resumed some duties. On Friday, he called Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
AFP
