VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo’s surgeon said Saturday that there were “no clinical reasons” to cancel the pontiff’s planned Latin America tour, scheduled for Nov. 6-17.
Dr. Stefano Margaritora told Vatican media that the pope had devoted himself fully to his recovery and was expected to make a complete recovery within roughly 10 more days.
“Considering a long journey that includes air travel in approximately three weeks, I see no clinical reason it should not go ahead,” Margaritora told Vatican News.
The remarks came soon after Leo returned to the Vatican, four days after Margaritora surgically removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung, where doctors had found a cancerous nodule.
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Pope Leo left Rome’s Gemelli hospital and returned to the Vatican on Saturday, just four days after undergoing lung cancer surgery. Dozens of supporters gathered outside the hospital, calling out “Holiness” as he departed.
Asked about his condition as he was driven away in a black SUV, Leo replied, “I am much better, thank you.”
The 71-year-old pope greeted patients inside the hospital with Margaritora before walking to his vehicle and waving to the crowd outside.
His departure was briefly interrupted by a 13-year-old Ukrainian girl, who gave him a handmade papal doll. She said the doll had supported her during successful cancer treatment. The girl had met Leo briefly at an audience in St. Peter’s Square last December, an encounter she said gave her the strength to overcome her illness.
About 10 minutes after leaving the hospital, Leo passed through the Vatican gates. He is expected to resume limited duties Sunday by delivering the traditional Angelus blessing to the faithful, one week after openly telling a crowd in St. Peter’s Square that doctors had discovered a lung nodule — an unusually personal announcement from a pope.
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Surgeons removed the lower lobe of Leo’s right lung Tuesday. The procedure confirmed that he had adenocarcinoma, the most frequently diagnosed form of lung cancer.
The pope has continued to show encouraging signs of recovery. While hospitalized, he spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, met with senior aides and celebrated Mass in a temporary chapel.
Updates from Leo’s personal doctor and surgeon described his postoperative progress as positive, noting that he was able to perform his “normal daily activities completely on his own.”
On Friday, the Vatican released the first photographs of Leo since the operation. The images showed him wearing green vestments and standing at an altar in the hospital chapel. Doctors said medical tests showed his condition was continuing to improve.
Leo led the liturgy by himself and gave Communion to hospital workers and Vatican gendarmes, spokesman Matteo Bruni said. In his homily, the pope expressed gratitude to medical staff for caring for vulnerable patients every day and for the treatment they had provided to him.
The Vatican had originally anticipated that Leo would remain hospitalized for about a week and canceled his audiences through Tuesday. Medical specialists said an earlier discharge could be possible if his recovery progressed well, while Bruni emphasized that the final decision belonged to the pope’s doctors.
Signs that the trip preparations were continuing emerged Friday, when the Vatican published the list of journalists accredited to fly with Leo. Oncology surgeons generally consider patients fit to travel by air after about three weeks, depending on their recovery.
Doctors are still waiting for laboratory results that will reveal the tumor’s exact molecular and genetic characteristics, whether the cancer has moved beyond the removed lung lobe and whether Leo will require additional treatment.
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