Vatican bulletin on the recovery

Pope Leo XIV is recovering normally after surgery at Rome's Agostino Gemelli University Hospital, according to a medical bulletin the Vatican released on Wednesday, 14 October. Blood tests and a chest X-ray taken that morning came back in line with expectations for the procedure. The pope has also done respiratory physiotherapy, started walking around his room, and resumed regular meals, eating both breakfast and lunch. The bulletin said the course of recovery was proceeding as planned.

The results confirm a normal post-operative course: the readings are within the normal range for the type of procedure performed.

The operation on 13 October

Surgeons operated on the 71-year-old pontiff on Tuesday, 13 October, to treat a malignant tumor. The Vatican said the tumor was a lung adenocarcinoma, a diagnosis that a frozen-section examination during the operation confirmed, as pre-operative tests had suspected. Reports say the pope had expected the tumor to be found, and doctors pointed to the early stage of the nodule and the fact that it was contained as grounds for a positive conclusion. Luigi Carbone, the pope's personal physician, and Stefano Margaritora, who led the surgical team, said the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique to make the procedure radical. Seven doctors made up the surgical team. The pope was in the operating room for about three hours, while the operation itself lasted roughly 90 minutes, and doctors described it as successful with no complications.

Recovery at the Gemelli hospital

After surgery the pope woke as expected and, following a brief observation period, went back to his room on the tenth floor. That floor holds a ward dedicated exclusively to the pontiff, and the area is off-limits to visitors while the Papal Household stays with him. Hospital staff shared few details about his stay and said they wanted to ensure he gets plenty of rest. Three bouquets of white flowers arrived in the late morning, and gendarmes made sure they reached the tenth floor. Spokesman Matteo Bruni also briefed journalists on the pope's appetite.

The Pope has also asked for dinner.

Prayers and visitors outside

At the hospital, chaplain Nunzio Currao celebrated the 1 p.m. mass in the chapel dedicated to John Paul II and asked worshippers to pray the rosary for the pope and for peace. Outside, images of Leo, flowers and small candles appeared at the base of the statue of John Paul II, and a banner from the haematology department was hung on a side wall. Sister Rosetta, an 80-year-old nun from Viterbo, sat in the sun on the pavement under the hospital windows with a wooden rosary, saying she had come to be near the pope. Her presence was one of several small gestures of support gathered around the hospital that afternoon.

Family reaction

The pope's brother, Louis Prevost, told the US broadcaster NewsMax in a live link that he had received a message from the pope's right-hand man. According to Prevost, the pope had come out of the operating room, was awake, felt well and was not in pain. The Vatican has described the post-operative course as regular and on schedule in its latest bulletin.