Vatican says Pope Leo to be released from the hospital on October 17, four days after lung cancer surgery

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Images of Pope Leo XIV rest at the base of a statue of Pope St. John Paul II at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where Pope Leo is hospitalised, in Rome, on October 16, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP

Pope Leo XIV is being released from the hospital on Saturday (October 17, 2026), four days after lung cancer surgery, and will deliver the traditional noon blessing on Sunday (October 18, 2026) from a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, the Vatican announced.

The 71-year-old Pope Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed after doctors identified a suspected cancerous nodule. The surgery confirmed he had adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer.

His personal physician and surgeon said in a separate statement that Pope Leo was “deemed fit for discharge from the hospital” based on blood test results and a chest X-ray performed on Saturday (October 18, 2026) morning, along with an assessment of his clinical condition.

He is set to leave the hospital in the early afternoon and return to the Vatican, the Vatican said in a brief statement.

With notable transparency, Pope Leo announced last Sunday (October 11, 2026) to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that doctors had identified a nodule on his lung, and that it would be removed.

Since the surgery on Tuesday (October 13, 2026) that confirmed the cancer diagnosis, Pope Leo has given strong indications that he was recovering well, including holding a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting with top aides and celebrating Mass in a hospital chapel.

Spare medical bulletins from his personal physician and surgeon likewise indicated a good post-operative recovery that had allowed him to carry on “normal daily activities completely on his own.”

The Vatican on Friday (October 16, 2026) released the first images of Pope Leo since his lung cancer surgery, showing him standing up at an altar in a hospital chapel in green vestments, as doctors said that tests confirmed his “continued improvement.”

Pope Leo presided alone over the liturgy, distributing Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes present, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said. He also delivered a homily in which he thanked the hospital staff “for the work they do every day taking care of the sick in their fragility, and in a particular way what they had done for him,” Mr. Bruni said.

The Vatican had originally estimated a weeklong hospital stay, and had cancelled his audiences through Tuesday (October 13, 2026). Mr. Bruni said the discharge date was up to the pope's doctors.

The pope's next big agenda item is a trip to Latin America from November 6-17, which gives Pope Leo three more weeks of recovery before taking on the ambitious journey that includes a dozen flights and two helicopter trips.

The Vatican has given signs of all-systems go, publishing the names of journalists accredited to fly on Pope Leo's plane on Friday (October 16, 2026). And oncology surgeons say protocols generally clear patients to fly after three weeks, as long as recovery allows.