Pope Leo XIV is out of bed, walking and eating following an operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his lung, and has undergone post-surgery tests which show his progress is “normal”, his doctors said on Wednesday.
Part of the pope’s right lung was removed in Tuesday’s operation at Rome’s Gemelli hospital and the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is now awaiting the results of a biopsy to determine if the cancer has spread.
Blood tests and a chest X-ray meanwhile “confirm a normal post-operative course”, doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said in a statement released on Wednesday by the Vatican.
“The values are within the expected range for the type of procedure performed,” they said.
The discovery on Tuesday that Leo’s nodule was cancerous plunged the Catholic Church into a period of uncertainty.
But a day later, his doctors said his recovery was “proceeding as expected” and the pontiff had eaten both breakfast and lunch, been walking about his room, and had done some respiratory physiotherapy.
“It’s a shock for everyone. We’re in ‘wait-and-see’ mode,” a Vatican source told AFP.
The sporty 71-year-old, who was elected as the first American pope only last year, made the surprise announcement that he would be undergoing surgery after Sunday prayers.
Prayers for recovery
Messages of support flooded in from around the world, including from Britain’s King Charles III, who is also being treated for an undisclosed cancer.
Flying outside the hospital north of the Vatican, a banner read “Long live the pope!”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prayed for a speedy recovery of Pope Leo XIV following his surgery.
“On behalf of the people and government of Pakistan, I wish him strength, comfort and a speedy recovery,” the prime minister said in a post on X.
He said Pakistan’s Catholic community, as well as the entire nation, joined him in praying for the pope’s good health.
“His steadfast message of compassion, peace and human dignity resonates deeply with people across Pakistan and the world,” the prime minister said, adding that he prayed for the pope to continue his service to humanity with renewed strength and conviction.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a practising Catholic, said after the surgery that he and his wife were “united in prayer for (Leo’s) health following his recent diagnosis”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his “thoughts and prayers” were with the pontiff, calling him “a voice for peace, humanity and reason in our modern world”.
Experts said much would depend on how advanced the cancer was, and whether it had spread, but the Vatican has said it had been detected early and was localised.
The Vatican said the pope’s recovery should take around a week. All his audiences have been cancelled until Oct 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.
Chicago-born Leo is staying in a room on the 10th floor of the building, next to a papal suite with a private chapel that is currently under renovation.
He had entered the hospital smiling and waving on Tuesday.
In the hospital chapel, dozens of faithful prayed for the pope’s health during the operation.
New uncertainty
The shock news of the tennis-playing pope’s illness has rattled the Catholic Church.
A Vatican source told AFP the pope seemed “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.
Expert Marco Politi, who has spent decades covering the Vatican, told AFP: “The Church is now in a state of uncertainty. When Leo was elected, everyone foresaw a long papacy.”
Hendro Munsterman, a theologian and expert for Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad, told AFP, “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.”
His health issues may prompt him to speed up personnel appointments, Munsterman said.
Politi said Leo had been working on “repairing” rifts between various wings of the Church, and many will want him “to continue with this important mission as soon as possible”.
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated a mass on St Peter’s Square on Wednesday that was to have been presided over by the pope.
The surgery has raised questions about whether Leo will go ahead with a lengthy visit next month to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, where he worked as a missionary for two decades.
It marks Leo’s first hospitalisation since he became pope on May 8, 2025.
The Vatican has historically been very secretive about the health of popes, but began to be more transparent during the illness of Leo’s predecessor, Francis, an Argentine who freely discussed his ailments.